Why Washington, D.C. Deserves To Be A State

77865
Published on April 28, 2021

For the past 30 years, D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has been fighting like hell to make D.C. a state—and now victory may be on the horizon! Sam sat down with Delegate Holmes to understand what D.C. statehood would mean for its residents, the country, and most importantly, the U.S. flag.

This piece was produced by Mike Rubens with Annie Kopp and edited by Jesse Coane.

Watch Full Frontal with Samantha Bee all new Wednesdays at 10:30/ 9:30c on TBS!

#SamanthaBee #FullFrontalSamB

SamBee.com

Tag

104 comments

  • Robert Forster 3 years ago

    As long as a CERTAIN TWO Democratic senators decide to get rid of the filibuster, this will be passed tomorrow.

    Reply
  • Rhythmicons 3 years ago

    Let’s give Texas, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico back to Mexico and Give Florida and Louisiana back to Spain.

    Reply
  • David T 3 years ago

    “We have too many small states clogging up the Senate. Let’s make it worse!” No, not logical. Puerto Rico definitely should be a state. It has more than 3 million people and isn’t connected to other states. DC? It’s a city in Maryland. LA? NYC? Chicago? Why aren’t those states?

    The federal reserve should be shrunk to only include key buildings. In the end, only two families should be living outside of a state: those of the president and VP. However, that’s no excuse for DC being a state.

    Reply
  • ANNA MAE Devlin 3 years ago

    Just shows you how BROKEN our country is!

    Reply
  • A Gift of Honey 3 years ago

    D.C. deserves statehood. Joe Manchin is a Republican and the Senate needs to be abolished.

    Reply
  • John Preston 3 years ago

    by splitting the GOP…
    into two warring factions…
    the orange clown may quite by accident…
    actually “make America great again”…

    Reply
  • kassia pencek 3 years ago

    Thanks for this exclusive report. I really was not aware the reasons for it, but now I’m in!!!

    Reply
  • Avery 3 years ago

    DC should be a state because I want a flag with a circle of stars

    Reply
  • Drawn 3 years ago

    I actually spent some time designing how the flag could look with 51 or 52 stars…. and I’m not even from the States.

    Reply
  • Jack Black 3 years ago

    a black woman getting common sense things done when no one else would? Shocking….

    Reply
  • Tom Rankin 3 years ago

    I think it is worth mentioning the whole “2 new senators” argument. These senators would probably be Democrats. I think this is a huge, if unspoken, argument the Rs are making.

    Reply
  • andrewthezeppo 3 years ago

    Why don’t they just make it part of Maryland? Or at least divide the residential parts between Maryland and Virginia so that only the government buildings themselves aren’t part of either state. I would rather Puerto Rico being much larger in land and population get statehood first. It’s not like people there can commute from anywhere like people working in DC do.

    Reply
  • Rocky Slope 3 years ago

    You can stagger the stars with 51 or 52 states quite nicely and barely notice the difference. Just look at the flag designs on Wikipedia. But even so, our flag changed constantly before 1950. Why does it matter how it changes now?

    Reply
  • Jon Bauml 3 years ago

    Thanks Sam!

    Reply
  • Cut Twice 3 years ago

    The 51 star flag has already been designed; it is by the same man who designed the 50 star flag.

    Reply
  • Sic Lusifer 3 years ago

    straight forward question and a very good avoidance to answer it. @4:38 Do yout think the senate dems have what it takes to get rid of the filibuster!! They cant get rid of it.. the establishment wont allow it.. we need more progressives in the senate!!

    Reply
  • Tana Darko 3 years ago

    you KNOw republicans would refuse to fly the new flag.

    Reply
  • Michael Blankenship 3 years ago

    Manchin will never go for D.C. statehood. Manchin is very much an “if it doesn’t help my state, then I don’t care” kind of person. I should know. I live in West Virginia and that’s why he won.

    Reply
  • Erroneous Botch 3 years ago

    But can we get rid of Florida?

    Reply
  • New Message 3 years ago

    Well.. Texas doesn’t seem to want to be one.. so.. maybe we switch up?

    Reply
  • Biffa Bacon 3 years ago

    god sam you are so beautiful

    Reply
  • itstrbo 3 years ago

    Careful watch you wish for DC, if they get statehood suddenly they dont need to be the seat of government, they’re just a state like everyone else right? …this is a double edged sword for DC IMO, there’s privileges to being “the nation’s capital”

    Reply
  • tursiopsgirl8 3 years ago

    Next Puerto Rico and Guam! Come on Dems representation and equality for all US citizens!!!

    Reply
  • moridgeway 3 years ago

    I would love to see all of the workers in D.C. not show up for work on the same day. I would support the police, fire and medical folks to keep working, because their work is intrinsic to the safety of the populace. But everyone else should just not go to work. Take a day at the park. Then when the wheels came off because the ” important people” wouldn’t get their lattes. Or their office cleaned. Or their dinner on the town. Or their drink a the bar. Or their cheap meal in their cafeteria. you get the picture.

    Reply
  • David Jeffreys 3 years ago

    How did this person get on tv?

    Reply
  • LGK 3 years ago

    Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa too, please!

    Reply
  • Henry Tawnn 3 years ago

    “The least of our worries is the flag.”

    Fox News: “See!? She’s a communist who hates America and everything we stand for!!”

    Reply
  • Trisha Tyler 3 years ago

    Biden is counting on Manchin to maintain the status quo.

    Reply
  • Rebekah Elbourn 3 years ago

    A remarkable woman! Thank you for not giving up?
    Im sorry but these Republicans are ridiculous and a stain on Democracy.
    Does Jim Jordan have tiny hands?

    Reply
  • judyintheburg 3 years ago

    put a rainbow colored star for #51 <3

    Reply
  • Rebekah Elbourn 3 years ago

    May I have an American made flag please because Republicans sold us out for cheap labor all over the world, not just one country or another, everywhere. Thanks Ron

    Reply
  • David Voelkel 3 years ago

    EHN is a true American patriot and hero!

    Reply
  • Sophia Krishnan 3 years ago

    Wow. This lady is a legend. They should put her on the bill.

    Reply
  • Marlo Reihe 3 years ago

    Make it a prision,crimes wear masks

    Reply
  • Alain Archambault 3 years ago

    D.C., should be a city in Maryland whereas PR should be a state. That’s my opinion anyway.

    Reply
  • Edwin Ortiz 3 years ago

    No

    Reply
  • corynardin 3 years ago

    “it’s like she is auditing Congress.” I love that line.

    Reply
  • Dead Ryan 3 years ago

    Now that DC is mostly gentrified it deserves to be a state go figure

    Reply
  • K, Rothfus 3 years ago

    Go ahead and open that pandoras box, once there is no longer a capital city, just a Capitol building.. then the Republicans can move it to Florida with a simple majority vote..so while it constitutional, it doesn’t mean its a good idea..

    Reply
  • Berkeley Pickell 3 years ago

    If our electoral system accurately represented the will of the people republicans would never win. DC statehood is a step closer to proper representation. Abolishing the electoral college is a step closer. Banning the filibuster will help a lot too.

    Reply
  • Makaveli 3 years ago

    Cancel this show plz

    Reply
  • Dr. James Olack 3 years ago

    I calculated Norton is a 4th gen Washingtonian. Right? Not a 3rd gen.

    Reply
  • JanineBean 3 years ago

    I mean 51 is a slightly less satisfying round number but like…who cares?

    Reply
  • Daniel Parrott 3 years ago

    So join Maryland and have voting power that way.

    Reply
  • Lori D R Blake 3 years ago

    Taxation without representation, sound familiar?

    Reply
  • bob roberts 3 years ago

    Why are politicians such knuckle draggers? It seems everything that needs a law to protect or give rights to a group of people or nature takes far too long, even thou they know the law will happen eventually they still knuckle drag and knuckle drag … it’s worse than watching paint dry by 1000 times

    Reply
  • KWEEN ME 3 years ago

    I lived in SE D.C. and as I recall, we didn’t pay tax on various goods like food and clothing. I was young but is this not true?

    Reply
  • perkytxgirl 3 years ago

    No way a city with half a million people should be a state before Puerto Rico which has more than 7 million people,

    Reply
  • ThePinkBinks 3 years ago

    Americans whine that the flag gets flown upside down so go back to a design that can’t be flown upside down.

    Reply
  • aratosm 3 years ago

    Washington DC should be joined with Maryland so that the people get their vote back.

    Reply
  • aratosm 3 years ago

    It’s amazing the DemocRats are focusing on DC statehood when they should make Puerto Rico a state. DC should be rejoined with Maryland.

    Reply
  • Laura Hubbard 3 years ago

    Native Washingtonian, now living in the Maryland ‘burbs to guarantee that I’m represented in Congress. Also, when DC was established no one thought anyone would actually live here as true residents; they thought folks in the Federal Government would come here to conduct national business and would then be able to vote in their home States.

    Reply
  • molly cruz 3 years ago

    What about Puerto Rico?

    Reply
  • Jason Thompson 3 years ago

    Awful. Way off. Not even close.

    Reply
  • What are you looking at? 3 years ago

    The bill is already DOA. When DC was established it was done under this premise. If the virus there reject said premise they simply need to move.

    Reply
  • Junjun Agbayani 3 years ago

    Folks might ask: why not Puerto Rico? Unlike DC, Puerto Rico has an option to be independent. DC can only be either a district with no representation or a state on its own. (Or be counted as part of Maryland in Senate and House elections)

    Reply
  • Bry Sands 3 years ago

    The founders wanted this ground of government neutral. Check your history of why.

    Reply
  • Rocket Man 3 years ago

    If DC can be a state, then make Northern California the state of Jefferson.

    Reply
  • Jerome Thorp 3 years ago

    Where are the dockyards in Wyoming?

    Reply
  • ronkirk50 3 years ago

    It is long overdue that the American citizens who live in the District of Columbia have VOTING representation in both the House and Senate like every other American citizen has. The only citizen’s who have taxation without representation. If the GQP is worried how D.C. statehood might affect elections, maybe they should concentrate on more popular ideas and policies instead of denying 689,545 Americans the right to representation in our government.

    Reply
  • Fred Jacobsen 3 years ago

    MAKE DC PART OF THE STATES OF VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND !!!!!!

    Reply
  • Josh Portal 3 years ago

    What is really crazy is how many times the Republicans try to make Guam the 51 State after striking down Puerto and DC.

    Another crazy idea by 5 Republicans was to make Afghanistan an American Territory.

    Something Mitch McConnell has said many times was to take over the Philippines again and in a few years make that country into a state.

    Only Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley want to make Taiwan an American Territory and actually fought for it during the Trump administration.

    Reply
  • Zach Jensen 3 years ago

    I had no idea this show was still going i thought it was canceled

    Reply
  • Polymerbob 3 years ago

    Two more guaranteed Democratic senators? Not everyone is on board with that.

    Reply
  • Jesus 3 years ago

    Are we basing statehood on the amount of car dealerships? My town would be like 7 different states….

    Reply
  • alhartland 3 years ago

    Combine North and South Dakota and Virginia and West Virginia into 2 states and make Puerto Rico and D.C. states. You wouldn’t have to change the flag.

    Reply
  • Jeffrey Alberg 3 years ago

    Should we just give back the land to Maryland instead od making it a state?

    Reply
  • oldsesalt 3 years ago

    The founders never should have made DC as big as it did. They should have made it large enough to hold the government buildings and no larger. Or they should have denied private ownership and building permits for residential housing.

    Reply
  • Donald Smith 3 years ago

    We’ve done nothing but find ways around the Constitution when it comes to Trump violating it. Just like everything else in this country, we refer to the “laws” or general statutes when they fit the agenda. This country puts so much emphasis on platitudes and far less on reality. It’s not politically correct to say that making DC a state would likely swing the elections in favor of Democrats, so they hide behind the Constitution. It’s not politically correct to say that we don’t like when Black people utilize rights granted by the Bill of Rights – so we’ll blame our disdain for the usage on anything else…not the right time, some people were violent, blah blah blah. It’s more important to SAY that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful to veterans while ignoring the fact that, in reality, they (veterans) represent a HUGE percentage of our homeless population. We don’t do well with taking care of people in this country unless someone is able to get rich from it. We ignore the fact that over half the stadium is rushing to the concession stands, sitting and texting, etc., while the anthem is being performed – naw…we’re focused on the 9 or so Black NFL players who have the nerve to forget that they could still be slaves – again…since that’s not politically correct to say, we blame it on other things that we clearly don’t care about or value. It’s more important to SAY we’re anti-racist while simultaneously blocking any initiatives that would level the playing field – in an effort to maintain status quo. We’re a nation of hypocrites. The game is to keep the bottom 90 percent of us distracted while the top 10 remain in power – period. That’s why all of the isms persist and that’s why there’s been a long block of DC becoming a state. Simply put, it limits the control and “ebb/flow” of our political structure. Let’s face it…we’ve basically been watching the presidency switch from Democrat to Republican almost evenly over the past 40 years. DC statehood might mess that up.

    Reply
  • Uthman Baksh 3 years ago

    If we cannot for some reason have more than 50 states, I say we kick out Florida! And not having a car dealership id a dumb reason for DC to not become a state. You can buy a car online now, especially if you want a Tesla!

    Reply
  • Queen Ursula 3 years ago

    Why do you mock Central Jersey

    Reply
  • Ann van de Kew 3 years ago

    Call him; it would *be* a great show.

    Reply
  • Richard Starratt 3 years ago

    Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the US Constitution calls for a Federal District to be the Capital so that the Capital would NOT be in any one state (Federalist 43). DC Statehood will require a Constitutional Amendment

    Reply
  • Jes Way 3 years ago

    She kept it clean. They should totally show this clip in History/Social Studies classes!

    Reply
  • AuntiJen 3 years ago

    Can we all PLEASE remember every weaksause GOP argument AGAINST DC Statehood, and SHOVE IT IN THEIR FACES when the debate for Puerto Rican Statehood happens? PR DEFINITELY HAS; Car dealerships, manufacturing, mining, forts (does he mean bases?) Dockyards, etc etc…. or will they then “move the goalposts” for Puerto Rico’s eligibility (what will the terms for “not white enough” be, then? Lol!)

    Reply
  • Mikey Cruz 3 years ago

    No reason why the Gops don’t want it because they’ll have another Democrat State!! They have to cheat to win…uh huh,!!

    Reply
  • TehPwnerer 3 years ago

    Puerto Rico (3,285,874 2020
    )
    D.C (689,545)
    No taxation without representation, what about Puerto Rico?

    Reply
  • Cedric Blum 3 years ago

    Supreme Court says no 😉

    Reply
  • Kipkemoi Kiptum 3 years ago

    Not if Republicans have anything to say about it!

    Reply
  • Iam Dredlamb 3 years ago

    So happy to see finally the purpouse of a party neutral federal district has been demolished, from now on national elections will be measured by whoever party afilliation wins the district central, yeeeha Democracy! Thanks!

    Reply
  • xchopp 3 years ago

    We must add DC and Puerto Rico (Population in 2020 census: 3,285,874). How we can claim to be a shining light on a hill while denying the fundamental rights of Americans like this is beyond me. It surely couldn’t be because _these_ Americans speak Spanish — could it? South Africa recognized its apartheid problem decades ago: it’s beyond time we dealt with ours.

    Reply
  • Jonathan Jollimore 3 years ago

    Sure the do

    Reply
  • Jonathan Jollimore 3 years ago

    Sure they do

    Reply
  • Cozzi 3 years ago

    “In ’91 I was a tiny baby” YOU WAS BORN IN ’69 you was like 21 SHUT TF UP lol

    Reply
  • View From The High Chair 3 years ago

    If America wants to keep its number of States at 50, just combine the Dakota’s into one State and then bring in the state of “Columbia” and voila, 50 States. You’re welcome!!

    Reply
  • Leo Buzalsky 3 years ago

    Joe Manchin should be supporting this. Didn’t he pen a dumb op-ed about how the Founding Fathers wanted small states to have a voice and that’s why every state gets two Senators? And, for unstated reasons, those small states _also_ need a filibuster on top of that? If Manchin is logically consistent, it sure seems clear that D.C. needs to have a voice and that this should be a worthy cause where the filibuster should not apply. If, in Manchin’s mind, the filibuster is indeed there to give small states a voice, it would be contrary to this principle to use the filibuster to deny a small would-be state a voice! I’d sure be interested if Manchin has some killer logic that shows otherwise.

    Reply
  • Unified Vision 3 years ago

    Democrats need to understand that this would be a hugely political move, for either Puerto Rico or DC, since it’s obvious to all that either one of those would vote Democrat and would therefore shift the balance of power in the Senate. For this reason Republicans will be willing on this issue as well as several others to go to war with us if need be, literal Civil War. Does anybody actually imagine that Republicans love their guns so much because it’s a fun hobby? No one should pretend like all this is just a logical thing, giving statehood to DC or Puerto Rico, and pretend that it’s about to happen. Logic has nothing to do with it, the war between left and right has everything to do with it.

    Reply
  • Anthony Norton 3 years ago

    We should also look at the wishes of other U.S. territories for statehood and/or representation (think Guam, Marshall Islands, Puerto Rico, etc.).

    Reply
  • Go-Go Dollie 3 years ago

    as a flagg i abide this message

    Reply
  • General JellyRoll 3 years ago

    Texan gained a senate seat and NY lost a seat because the blurst census

    Reply
  • Annalouise Fischbach 3 years ago

    Thumbs up hopes for a Senate win.

    Reply
  • methodnes 3 years ago

    Oh nice precedent to set, now any medium size city can be its own state.

    Reply
  • aratosm 3 years ago

    Looks like leftists no longer have the votes to destroy our democratic process.

    Reply
  • Facts Matter 3 years ago

    Either make Puerto Rico & DC a state or don’t collect taxes…No taxation without representation!!!

    Reply
  • Samariterstrasse 3 years ago

    Washington D.C. has no House Representatives and no Senators because congress members from other states are blocking it. They fear losing influence. And, not this, D.C.’s population is black by majority. There are some people who don’t want to share power with a new state that has a black majority. As usual in the US, almost all conflicts stem from racism. It’s that simple.

    Reply
  • Jeff S 3 years ago

    Puerto Rico too!

    Reply
  • Frank Delgrosso 3 years ago

    You guys know Republicans still exist right but there’s literally no way that they’re going to let that happen and you need 60 votes to make it happen. DC is full of black people like big time and there’s no way they’re going to let that happen so I don’t even know what you’re talking about there’s no way you can get it through

    Reply
  • Josh Light 3 years ago

    Dc statehood is about giving Democrats two more senators, nothing more nothing less. It doesn’t deserve to be our nation’s capital much less a state.

    Reply
  • Justin Miller 3 years ago

    I think it’s more important that Puerto Rico became a state. I think a fair argument could be made that the residential areas of DC should simply be absorbed into Virginia or Maryland.

    Reply
  • Elizabeth Brogan 3 years ago

    Our QUEEN.

    Reply
  • Elizabeth Brogan 3 years ago

    Someone tell me why Joe Manchin is a democrat because I still don’t see it

    Reply
  • George B. Wolffsohn 3 years ago

    If you approve of Puerto Rico becoming a state at the same time the. There will be 52 states. That should enable an acceptable pattern on Old Glory.

    Reply
  • Dávid Danos 3 years ago

    Now do Puerto Rico, South Virginia, Marianas, and American Samoa!

    Reply
  • Ichijo Festival 3 years ago

    My biggest problem: they can’t go around calling themselves “Washingtonians.” That’s taken.
    Find your own name, DC-ians.

    Reply

Add your comment

Your email address will not be published.