Bill faces an uphill climb in the Senate

The divided House Thursday passed legislation to make Washington D.C. the 51st state and to grant its more than 700,000 residents full representation in Congress.

The strictly party-line vote in the House was 216 to 208, with all Republicans rejecting the statehood bill, dubbed H.R. 51. The legislation has the support from President Biden but faces long odds of passing in the 50-50 split Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., cheered the passage as a "momentous day for American democracy." Democrats argued statehood was a matter of civil rights and a necessary step to right a historic injustice of taxing D.C. residents without affording them any representation in Congress.

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"Statehood for the District of Columbia is about showing respect for our democracy," Pelosi said prior to the vote. 

"It's well past the time to grant them the rights that they have been fighting for and that they deserve,"  she added. Read more at FOX News