Sen. Cotton On DC Statehood: Democrats Want 'Total Control'

Clay Robinson | June 26, 2020
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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) argues that the true purpose behind the Democrats move to make Washington D.C. a state is to shift the balance of power in their favor. 

"[Democrats] want two new Democratic senators in perpetuity," Cotton said on the Senate floor, "The Democrats are angry at the American people for refusing to give them total control of the government, for going on a decade now, so they want to give the swamp as many senators as you state has."

Cotton also added, "The founders made Washington, D.C. independent so that the federal government would never again be at the mercy of a mob or hostile state."

The House passed a measure making DC the 51st state, but it's doubtful the measure will become law.

Republicans have concerns about DC becoming a state, if it did, it could do two things: one, add two (likely) Democratic senators to join the ranks of the Senate, tipping the chamber in the Democrats’ favor. 

And two, the change could give the D.C. state government the power to blackmail the federal government by withholding essential services. 

“It means if you’re surrounded by a state, and the Capitol is part of that state…then pressure can be brought to bear that would be so unfair to this country,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said Friday.

Democrats claim that 700,000 people are being denied full voting privileges or that D.C. residents pay more taxes than 22 states without Congressional representation. 

Democratic lawmakers claim that “race underlies every argument against D.C. statehood,” because 47 percent of residents are black.

The Constitution created the District of Columbia as a place for the federal government to reside while remaining free from any state influence. The federal district was carved out by land from Virginia and Maryland, of which the land from Virginia has been returned. It would require a constitutional amendment for D.C. statehood to become a reality.

Lawmakers could return the residential land to Maryland. But that solution has been largely ignored. 

 

 

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