House admits DC as 51st state

Statement

The House passed H.R. 51, admitting to the United States the new State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. I am an original co-sponsor of this bill that creates a 51st state and gives full voting representation in Congress to its people and full local self-government. The new state consists of 66 of the 68 square miles of the present-day District of Columbia, leaving intact the Capital area, including the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the principal federal monuments and offices that line the National Mall. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to admit new states in article IV, section 3, clause 1. All 37 states added to the original 13 were admitted by simple legislation, the last, Hawai'i and Alaska, in 1959. In 2016, 86 percent of residents of Washington voted for statehood and today's action honors that request for full rights as U.S. citizens. H.R. 51 now goes before the Senate.

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