Supporters of statehood for the District of Columbia, jubilant in a losing effort, say they will press ahead with efforts to create "New Columbia" as a 51st state.
The House rejected the statehood proposal Sunday by a 153-277 margin - in its first vote on the long-smoldering issue - but backers were happy with getting as many votes as they did. Cheers rose in the spectators' gallery as the final vote was tallied."I'm ready to declare a victory right now," said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's non-voting delegate to Congress who spearheaded the effort in the House. "The vote has surpassed my greatest expectations."
She said she had expected no more than 120 votes for the bill, which was almost unanimously opposed by House Republicans and has split the Democrats. The district is overwhelmingly Democratic in its voter makeup.
It was the first time district statehood legislation has made it as far as a floor vote. The measure has 32 co-sponsors in the Senate, but it's not known when it will come up for consideration.
Norton said she hoped the strong showing would increase the chances of Senate consideration next year. "We're going to continue to press for statehood," she told a news conference after the vote, praising the Clinton administration for lobbying on behalf of the bill.
The bill's supporters argued that statehood is the only way to end two centuries of taxation without representation for the 600,000 residents of the District, which does not have a voting representative in Congress.
The issue is one "of fundamental fairness," said House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo.