In a desperate step to maintain their Democratic majority in the Senate, the House is seeking passage of H.R. 51, allowing for D.C. statehood.
This Congress, the Senate Democrats invoked a budgetary procedure called reconciliation to pass legislation that is only subject to a 51-vote threshold rather than 2/3rds majority. However, only pieces of legislation that are budgetary in nature can be passed through reconciliation. Consequently, Senate Democrats will have a roadblock when it comes to items like the Equal Rights Amendment, the Green New Deal, and immigration. But, if they were to add D.C. as a state, they would be all but guaranteed a Senate majority for a very long time. In an article appearing on the Washington Post in March 2021, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) stated:
“There’s obviously a powerful democratic imperative for getting everybody equal political rights and representation. But there’s a national political logic for it, too, because the Senate has become the principal obstacle to social progress across a whole range of issues.”
Clearly, Democrats see D.C. statehood as a means to achieving their political goals.
If enacted, this legislation would decrease the radius of the federal district, or what will be called the Capital, to two square miles. The “Capital” will consist of the U.S. Capitol complex, the White House, the Supreme Court, the principal federal monuments, and the National Mall. The rest of D.C. will be left to the State of Washington, D.C. But allowing D.C. to become a state is unconstitutional. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 enables Congress to govern the District of Colombia. Our Founders envisioned the location of the Federal government to be an independent entity outside of another state. In doing so, the Founders sought to prevent D.C. from pressures and influence by one state government rather than another.
For these reasons, we ask that you please join Eagle Forum in asking your Representative to vote NO on H.R. 51.