Since its founding on July 16, 1790, Washington, D.C. has served as the independent capital of the United States of America. The District of Columbia holds a unique and prestigious place in American history as the central seat of the U.S. federal government.
In addition to substantial benefits for its 705,749 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020), D.C. independence has remained a vital national interest to protect against extreme states’ rights power grabs that could imperil the operations of American government.
As of right now, Susie Lee who is in an R-Leaning Congressional District NV-03 is not a co-sponsor of HR51 to make Washington DC a state. The Right on Daily Nevada Blog is encouraging everyone to contact her and her office to tell her not to make this mistake.
We are going to walk Susie Lee through several aspects of the DC Statehood drive and how it actually hurts the residents there!
H.R. 51: D.C. Statehood Bill in 116th United States Congress (The current bill in the 117th Congress has the same number)
In June 2020, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives approved H.R. 51, a simple-majority vote bill that would make Washington, D.C. the nation’s 51st state (Jones, 2020). Sponsored by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s elected Democrat Member of Congress, the bill passed on a 232 to 180 vote, with only Democrat support (Roll Call 122, 2020). In fact, one Democrat, Rep. Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota, broke ranks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and opposed the bill, demonstrating bipartisan opposition to the measure (Tumulty, 2020).
The ban on D.C. statehood has been enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Constitutional scholars point out that “Maryland could object to the establishment of a New Columbia, arguing that it ‘did not cede the land for the purpose of creating a new state on its border’” (DeBonis, 2014).
Similar to the National Popular Vote effort which has been rigged and factored to circumvent the constitution, the DC Statehood effort is the same.
U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 8
As Time Magazine notes: “… the lack of statehood for the capital is enshrined in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the document reads, “The Congress shall have Power To …exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States” (Berenson, 2016).
“Congress cannot change the status of the capital district simply by redefining it.”
Democrats Flout Prima Facia Constitutional Barriers
Curiously, Democrats openly celebrate the unconstitutional nature of H.R. 51 (Wolf, 2020). Rather than amend the U.S. Constitution, the bill would reduce the size of the federal district to just two square miles and then admit the remaining territory of D.C. as a new state, the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (MacFarlane, Bensen, & Staff, 2020). The federal-controlled district would include the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the principal federal monuments, while the state would consist of 66 of the 68 square miles of the present-day District of Columbia (Norton, 2020).
Let this sink in, the cynical nature of this effort should be alarming to any reasonable person.
As we continue, we are going to start laying out the disasterous consequences for the people of Washington DC if they become a state.
BTW – here is a poll in 3-2021 showing 55% of Americans opposing DC Statehood versus a paltry 29% in favor.