华盛顿——控制众议院的民主党人计划下周投票将哥伦比亚特区变成第51个州，他们认为在华盛顿和全国范围内反对种族公正的抗议之后，这个问题变得更加重要。
下周五的投票如果成功，将首次在众议院通过华盛顿特区州地位法案，但该法案在共和党控制的参议院面临不可逾越的反对。就在此之际，COVID-19大流行迫使大多数其他立法推迟审议。足够多的立法者正式支持该法案通过。1993年，民主党控制的国会以2比1的优势否决了华盛顿的州地位法案。
但是备受批评的政府动用联邦军队来清除白宫附近的拉斐特广场的和平抗议者，以支持总统唐纳德·特朗普两周前，在一次照片发布会上宣传他的法律和秩序证书，促使民主党领导人安排投票。多数党领袖斯坦尼·霍耶说:“我们都认为现在是提出法案以表示对哥伦比亚特区公民的尊重的合适时机。”。
“华盛顿特区不应该有来自其他州的军队，”市长穆里尔·布瑟说。周二，他向霍耶赠送了一面带有51颗星星的美国国旗。“不应该有联邦军队向美国人推进，也绝对不应该有士兵驻扎在我们的城市周围，等着在当地的治安问题上攻击美国人。”
哥伦比亚特区的多数是非洲裔美国人，该市绝大多数是民主党人。特朗普上个月表示，“华盛顿永远不会成为一个州”，因为这可能意味着多两名民主党参议员。“不用了，谢谢。这永远不会发生，”他告诉《纽约邮报》。
但是霍耶说华盛顿居民的权利应该超越政治考量。
“这与政治无关。如果是的话，那么我们就贬低了我们的民主，”他说。“这关系到我们作为一个国家是谁。”
布瑟指出，华盛顿的纳税人在国会没有投票代表，尽管他们在联邦税收中的人均贡献比许多州都多。这个国家的首都有70多万居民，人口比佛蒙特州和怀俄明州还多。
布瑟说，最近的事件使全国的注意力集中在华盛顿特区的困境上。今年早些时候，当国会通过《关怀法案》(CARES Act)刺激计划时，华盛顿特区被列为一个地区而不是一个州——这一区别使华盛顿政府损失了7亿多美元的联邦冠状病毒救助资金。
所有的地区法律都要接受国会委员会的审查，该委员会可以否决它们，或者通过在联邦拨款法案中附加附加条款来修改它们。在共和党控制国会期间，保守派一直试图限制该市的一些自由主义举措，如吸毒者换针和医疗补助计划下的堕胎，但大多没有成功。
最近，2014年一项将娱乐性大麻使用合法化的投票倡议以压倒多数获得通过。但是国会介入并基本上否决了该倡议，禁止地区政府花费任何资金或资源来发展大麻销售的监管或税收系统。
布瑟说，特朗普在抗议期间的行为“违反了我们美国人能够和平抗议的原则，也违反了我们的地方自治原则。”
因此，布瑟说，她的办公室现在在全国范围内对这个问题表现出前所未有的兴趣。她最近接受了《深夜秀》的采访，主持人詹姆斯·考登说他刚刚得知该地区没有参议员，众议院只有一名无投票权的代表。
“很多美国人都在那个地方，”布瑟说。"当美国人知道华盛顿的地位问题时，他们支持华盛顿的地位。"
霍耶承认，该法案在共和党控制的参议院面临强烈反对，并呼吁参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell，R-KY)。，认真对待这项措施。
“我希望参议员麦康奈尔足够关心我们的民主，允许在美国参议院对该法案进行投票，”霍耶说。“政治不是问题。问题在于民主。”
Washington DC faces House vote to become the 51st state
WASHINGTON -- 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. It comes even as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced delays in the consideration of most other legislation. More than enough lawmakers are officially backing the bill for it to pass. In 1993, the Democratic-controlled Congress defeated a D.C. statehood bill by an almost 2-1 margin.
But the much-criticized administration move to use federal forces to clear Lafayette Square near the White House of peaceful protesters to enable PresidentDonald Trumpto trumpet his law and order credentials in a photo op two weeks ago prompted Democratic leaders to schedule the vote. “We both agreed this was an appropriate time to bring a bill forward to show respect for the citizens of the District of Columbia,” said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
“There shouldn't be troops from other states in Washington, D.C.,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, who presented Hoyer on Tuesday with a U.S. Flag bearing 51 stars. “There shouldn't be federal forces advancing against Americans, and there very definitely shouldn't be soldiers stationed around our city waiting for the go to attack Americans in a local policing matter.”
A plurality of the District of Columbia is African American and the city is overwhelmingly Democratic. Trump said last month that “D.C. will never be a state" because it would likely mean two more Democratic senators. “No, thank you. That’ll never happen,” he told the New York Post.
But Hoyer said the rights of D.C. residents should transcend political calculations.
“This is not about politics. If it is, then we demean our democracy,” he said. “This is about who we are as a country.”
Bowser pointed out that D.C. taxpayers get no voting representatives in Congress despite contributing more in federal taxes on a per person basis than many states. The nation's capital, with just over 700,000 residents, has a larger population than Vermont and Wyoming.
Bowser said recent events have focused national attention on the plight of Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, when Congress passed the CARES Act stimulus package, Washington, D.C., was classified as a territory rather than a state — a distinction that cost Washington more than $700 million in federal coronavirus relief funding.
All District laws are subject to review by a congressional committee, which can veto them or alter them by attaching riders to federal appropriations bills. During GOP control of Congress, conservatives have sought, mostly unsuccessfully, to restrict some of the city’s liberal initiatives such as needle exchanges for drug users and abortions under its Medicaid program.
Most recently, a 2014 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use passed overwhelmingly. But Congress stepped in and essentially vetoed the initiative by prohibiting the District government from spending any funds or resources on developing a regulatory or taxation system for marijuana sales.
Bowser said Trump's actions during the protests “violated our principles of Americans being able to peacefully protest and it violated our principles of local autonomy.”
As a result, Bowser said her office is now fielding unprecedented interest in the issue from around the country. She was recently interviewed on “The Late Late Show” where host James Cordon said he had only just learned that the district has no senators and only one non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
“A lot of Americans are in that place,” Bowser said. “When Americans know about the issue of D.C. statehood, they support D.C. statehood.”
Hoyer acknowledged that the bill faces stiff opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY., to take the measure seriously.
“I hope that Senator McConnell cares enough about our democracy to allow a vote on this bill in the United States Senate,” Hoyer said. “Politics is not the issue. It’s democracy that’s the issue.”
