Free Republic

The U.S. House on Friday approved legislation to make D.C. the 51st state in the United States. The House vote was the first on D.C. statehood in more than a quarter-century. The vote was 232-180. While it marks the first time the House has passed a D.C. statehood bill, the Republican-controlled Senate has no plans to take it up. The bill would establish a federal district of two square miles, comprising the Capitol and White House, the National Mall and other major federal buildings. The rest of the District would become a state called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named for the...