WASHINGTON (CN) — Leaders of the District of Columbia took another step Friday in their renewed effort to petition Congress for statehood with the release of a draft constitution for public review.
In a tent outside President Lincoln's Cottage in Northwest Washington, D.C., the commission charged with piloting the city's statehood effort voted to release a 67-page document that details how the District would govern itself as an independent state.
"Wheras, we the people of the District of Columbia desire to become a state of the United States of America, where, like citizens of the other states, we will enjoy the full rights of citizens of the United States: to democracy and a republican form of government, to enact our own laws governing state affairs, and to voting representation in the United States Congress," the draft constitution's preamble reads.
The New Columbia Statehood Commission was created in 2014 and consists of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chair Phil Mendelson and three members of the city's "shadow" Congressional delegation. The commission is tasked with leading the city through its quest to gain approval from Congress to become the first state admitted to the union since Hawaii entered in 1959.
The new state would be called New Columbia.
District voters could have a chance to vote on an advisory referendum in November that would allow them to signal their desire to become the 51st state, as well as to approve the proposed state's boundaries, its constitution and its form of government.
But D.C. would still need to get approval from Congress before becoming a fully represented state, a tough prospect as many Republicans bristle at the idea of approving a state that would be likely to consistently send Democrats to the Hill. The District currently sends a delegation to Congress, but its "shadow" members cannot vote.
More than 50 people braved a cold, rainy Friday afternoon to attend the release of the draft constitution, which was passed around the large white tent that housed the event and was posted online as soon as the commission unanimously agreed to release it.
A team of lawyers and legal scholars from D.C.-area universities teamed together to write the draft constitution, which proposes a government structure that should be very familiar to voters in the United States.
"It is, of course, just an opening draft, it is a starting point that will engage the members of the public, but it is exciting to be participating in the very first, what I believe to be, the very first constitutional convention here in the 21st century," shadow Sen. Paul Strauss said at the hearing.
The document begins with a 10-point bill of rights that almost perfectly parrots the federal equivalent, including the Second Amendment, which drew an objection from one citizen who questioned whether the guarantee was appropriate for a city that has long been plagued by gun violence.
The draft also calls for a 13-member House of Delegates, a governor elected to four-year terms, and a courts system consisting of an appeals and superior court.
While the people who attended the release of the draft cheered at the idea of New Columbia, some raised concerns during a public comment period about a number of points in the proposed document.
