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USA: The House of Representatives voted to turn Washington, D.C., into a state - Walla! News

2021-04-22T21:04:42.712Z


Democrats have been promoting the move that will change American politics for decades, but making the capital 51 state is still a distant vision. Biden supports, but needs 60 votes in the Senate, will do more than the meager Democratic majority


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USA: The House of Representatives voted to make Washington the capital of the state

Democrats have been promoting the move that will change American politics for decades, but making the capital 51 state is still a distant vision.

Biden supports, but needs 60 votes in the Senate, will do more than the meager Democratic majority

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  • United States

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Thursday, 22 April 2021, 21:01 Updated: 21:21

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(Photo: AP)

The United States House of Representatives today (Thursday) approved a law that would make the capital Washington the 51st state, in a vote that was divided along party lines. The decades-old initiative to change the face of the American political map took another step today, but the most complicated stage awaits the Senate. Democrats have a simple majority of 51 senators, but the proposal needs the support of at least 60 votes and Republicans vehemently oppose an initiative that would weaken their power.



Under the proposal, which passed by a majority of 216 Democratic deputies against 208 Republican opponents, Washington, D.C. will send one representative to the House of Representatives and two to the Senate. Minimal space from the city, which includes the White House, Capitol Hill and the National Front will remain a federal district. Instead of the District of Columbia, the new state will be called Washington, Douglas Community - after Frederick Douglas, who fought slavery and lived in Washington from 1877 until his death in 1895.



Washington DC is subject to congressional authority, which can veto or amend any local law.

With 712,000 inhabitants, its population is larger than that of Wyoming or Vermont.

Its residents pay federal taxes, vote for the presidency and serve in the military, but have no representation in Congress.



An identical proposal to make Washington the capital of the United States' 51st state passed the House of Representatives last year, but it was quickly buried in the then-Republican-controlled Senate.

Now, with Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, Republican senators may use the Philibister to poke the initiative.

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(Photo: AP)

The move has a lot of support from President Joe Biden. The White House on Tuesday issued a statement describing Washington's current status as an "insult to the democratic values ​​on which our nation was founded." The White House described Washington as entitled to the status of a state, "with a solid economy, a rich culture and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy."



Republicans have made clear their opposition to the law during the debates, given the fact that the future state will have a distinctly democratic tone.



"They (the founding fathers) never wanted the capital Washington to be a state and then drafted the constitution that says so explicitly," said Judy Hayes, a Republican congresswoman from Georgia. "This is completely contrary to what the founding fathers intended and should be rejected outright."



On the other hand, Gerald Connolly, a Democratic representative of Virginia, noted the fact that Kentucky was formerly part of Virginia, and became a state by a simple decision of Congress.

He argued that the federal state was a theoretical idea when first formed, and not a community with a larger population than two other states in the United States.



"When this constitution was written, this place did not exist," he said.

"When people claim that it is not a race and a political issue, one can be sure that it is a matter of race and politics."

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Source: walla

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