D.C. Statehood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
D.C. Statehood is a political campaign intended to grant the District of Columbia the full privileges of a U.S. state. Such privileges include not only full voting rights in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate, but also full control over its own local affairs.
For more regarding the first controversy, see District of Columbia voting rights. For more regarding the second, see District of Columbia home rule.
Full statehood for D.C. could conceivably be achieved in either of two ways: via a constitutional amendment, or instead via an act of Congress.
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[edit] Advocates
The statehood agenda represents one end of a spectrum, the other being the status quo before 1974 (when D.C. gained limited home rule and an elected mayor). In the District, this position has been carried by the D.C. Statehood Party, a minor party; it merged with the local Green Party affiliate to form the D.C. Statehood Green Party. Many members of other political parties also support statehood.
[edit] History
Some aspects of the D.C. Statehood agenda were achieved with the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, passed in 1973. Still more were encompassed in the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which passed Congress in 1978 but failed to be ratified by a sufficient number of states to become an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The deadline for ratification of the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment passed in 1985.
Two years later, in 1980, local citizens passed an initiative calling for a constitutional convention for a new state. In 1982, voters ratified the constitution[1] of the state. Since that time, legislation to enact this proposed state constitution has routinely been introduced in Congress, but has never been passed.
"New Columbia" is the name of the proposed U.S. state that would be created by the admission of Washington, D.C. into the United States as the 51st state according to legislation offered starting in the 98th Congress in 1983 and routinely re-introduced in succeeding Congresses. The Congressional legislation was triggered by the provisional D.C. Statehood constitution that Washington, D.C. voters adopted in November of 1982.
The campaign for statehood stalled after the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment failed in 1985 because it did not receive the required ratification by the legislatures of at least 38 of the 50 states within the required seven years of the amendment's submission by the 95th Congress. In 1987, another constitution[2] was drafted, which again referred to the proposed state as New Columbia. The last serious debate on the issue in Congress took place in November 1993, when D.C. statehood was defeated in the House of Representatives by a vote of 277 to 153.
Although the proposal for statehood, via either legislation or constitutional amendment, has yet to be approved by Congress—typically receiving little attention each term that it is presented—the name "New Columbia" is a part of the statehood movement in the District of Columbia.
[edit] Alternatives
Many alternative proposals to outright statehood have been proposed. It is possible that the state of Maryland could take back the land it ceded for the District, as Virginia took back the land it ceded in 1846 (present-day Arlington County and part of Alexandria). Such an action would require an act of Congress and approval from the State of Maryland. This would make residents of the District residents of a State without granting the District statehood per se.
Other suggestions include allowing voting rights in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate, to reflect what some view as the uniquely non-state status of the District. This proposal for a District of Columbia vote in the House of Representatives has yet to be put to a vote on the floor of the House or Senate.
[edit] License plates
Vehicle license plates in Washington D.C. contain the quote "Taxation without representation." Former President Bill Clinton had these plates placed on the presidential limousines during the last few months of his administration. However, President George W. Bush, in one of his first official acts as president, had the tags removed.
[edit] See also
- Washington, D.C.
- District of Columbia voting rights
- District of Columbia home rule
- District of Columbia Vote in House of Representatives
