Democrats controlling the House have slated a vote next week to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, an issue that they say has become far more important in the aftermath of
protests for racial justice in both
Washington and across the nation.
Next Friday’s vote, if successful, would pass a D.C. statehood bill for the first time in the House, but the legislation faces insurmountable opposition in the GOP-controlled
Senate.
In 1993, the Democratic-controlled
Congress defeated a D.C. statehood bill by an almost 2-1 margin.