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Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday ordered 51-star American flags to be displayed along Pennsylvania Avenue ahead of Flag Day, June 14.
The mayor said she directed her team to hang the 51-star flags “as a reminder to Congress and the nation that the 700,000 tax-paying American citizens living in Washington, D.C. demand to be recognized.
The district government has placed 51-star flags along Pennsylvania Ave to the Capitol and around the White House in Washington, D.C., March 20, 2021, in advance of a statehood hearing in a congressional committee Monday.
(Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“On Flag Day, we celebrate American ideals, American history, and American liberty. But the very foundation of those ideals, and the basis for our liberty, is representation,” Mayor Bowser said in a statement. “DC’s disenfranchisement is a stain on American democracy – a 220-year-old wrong that demands to be righted.”
The stars on the American flag represent the 50 states, the last of which, Hawaii, was admitted on August 21, 1959. The American flag’s 50-star design became official on July 4, 1960.
The notion of D.C. statehood remains a contentious issue among lawmakers. D.C. has a population of more than 700,000 residents – greater than the states of Wyoming or Vermont – but the residents don’t have a voting member in the House and have no representation in the Senate. Nor does the district have control over its own local affairs. However, D.C. pays more in federal taxes than 21 states and more capital than any state, according to the 2019 IRS data book.
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In April, House Democratic lawmakers passed the “DC Admission Act,” which would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state and grant its residents full representation in Congress.
Republican lawmakers have argued that because…
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