There Should be 51 States (Script & Sources)
Added 2021-05-12 18:56:01 +0000 UTCThe House just voted along party lines to make the District of Columbia America’s 51st state, and now it is up to the Senate to decide whether or not it’ll actually happen. Adding a new state to the union is a big deal, and requires serious consideration, so here is a list of reasons that Democrats believe DC should be a state.
DC is the only US territory where residents pay federal taxes but can’t vote in Congress on how those taxes are used. In fact, they pay MORE in taxes than 22 states, and actually DC residents pay more per capita than ANY other resident of any state. We literally started an entire country on the basis of “taxation without representation”, and the territory’s lack of representation also means they lack the same basic rights and access as states, while facing the same issues. For example, DC was denied three-quarters of a billion dollars in Coronavirus Relief because they weren’t a state, and during the Capitol riots in January, they couldn’t summon the National Guard because only state governors are allowed to do that.
And in spite of being US citizens, DC residents have no say in Senate Committees or on the Senate Floor, and don’t get a voice in who can be elected to serve in leadership positions in the federal government, in federal courts, in the Supreme Court, or even in courts that are literally IN DC.
DC also has a larger population than several existing states, and that population is the only one in the US with a plurality of Black residents, which directly reflects the US’s changing demographics. So those are all pretty good reasons that Democrats are voting to make DC a state.
But what are the reasons that Republicans are voting against it?
Reason number one: it would add two Democrats to the Senate. Reason number two: there’s no reason number two, that’s the only reason they’ve ever given. And that’s why it’s not going to pass the Senate.
