The Republican Party is adamantly opposed! The dream of the "51st state of the United States" is difficult to realize

On June 26, the proposal to upgrade Washington, D.C., to a state was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, bringing the topic of "the 51st state of the United States back to the spotlight." Since Hawaii became the 50th state in the United States in 1959, although the United States, overseas territories and even many other countries and regions have applied to become the "51st state of the United States", but because of various factors and dreams shattered, so that the "51st state of the United States" has become a stem in popular culture.

Party rivalry shattered Washington, D.C.'s "statehood dream."

As we all know, the nascent capital of the United States of America was in Philadelphia, but in the subsequent War of Independence, Philadelphia, New York and other large cities suitable to become capitals fell one after another, and state representatives have been arguing about "where is the right capital to be the capital of the United States". Eventually, as a compromise, Virginia and Maryland each "gave up 5 miles" as the location of the new capital, named the "District of Columbia."

In 1878, after the merger of the three administrative units of the District of Columbia (Washington City, Washington County, and Georgetown Town) into Washington City, the city of Washington had covered the entire territory of the already small District of D.C., so the D.C. government and the Congress were abolished and replaced by the Washington City Government, which itself was very deformed: from the founding of the city in 1800 until 1974, there was no full-time mayor for 174 years, but the President of the United States. The capital of the United States was also known as "Washington, D.C." (Washington, D.C.) from this time on.

The people of Washington, D.C., are very unhappy with this situation, "we pay taxes, serve in the military and contribute to the American economy, but we do not have full citizenship rights." They have been trying to elevate the District to a state since the Civil War. You know, the states of the United States enjoy very favorable political treatment: having the key element of electing a president - the number of electoral votes, directly electing the governor, having the seats in the Bundesrat (two per state) and the plenipotentiary seats in the House of Representatives (Washington, D.C., did not have a house seat before 1964), having independent local fiscal power, and so on.

From the end of the 19th century to after World War II, the people of Washington, D.C., launched a campaign to "fight for the legitimate rights and interests of the D.C. After Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th U.S. states in 1959, Washington, D.C. was greatly encouraged. Senator Cofferville of Tennessee took the lead in initiating and passing a constitutional amendment that gave the SAR the power to elect presidents and vice presidents. The amendment provides that Washington, D.C. will receive three presidential and vice presidential electoral quotas — the same number of electors as in smaller states such as Vermont, North Dakota, and Alaska. In 1973, the U.S. Congress returned local administrative power to the local government in the form of restoring the Washington City Government and the City Council.

Seeing that the first step to becoming a state had been successfully taken, in 1978, Representative Edwards, Democrat of California, first proposed that "Washington, D.C. should be regarded as a state." On March 23 and August 22 of the same year, his proposed amendments were passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively. But in the next seven years, the amendment was approved only in 16 state legislatures, including New Jersey, Michigan, and Ohio, and failed to meet the "3/4 threshold" for approval in 38 states, and Washington, D.C.'s first positive effort to become the "51st state" failed.

In 1993, Washington, D.C.'s second "state attempt" was put to a vote in the House of Representatives, which was rejected by 153 votes to 277. In the previous "founding state" votes, on the whole, the Republican Party opposed and the Democratic Party approved. Because the percentage of African-Americans in Washington, D.C., was as high as 71 percent in 1970, almost all of them voted for Democrats. Following this trend, the Democratic Party will secure two seats in the Senate of the "New State" in the future. No wonder the outside world is generally not optimistic about this "state" proposal breaking into the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Republican McConnell has said publicly that "as long as I'm here, there's no discussion."

(Global Times)