Panel to Hear DC Statehood Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform is set to hold a hearing on a bill proposing Washington, D.C., be recognized as the nation's 51st state.

WTOP-FM reports District Mayor Muriel Bowser and Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton on Thursday announced the July 24 hearing. The last full House committee hearing on a District statehood bill was in 1993.

The bill seeks to have the city "admitted to the Union on equal footing with the other states."

It calls for districtwide elections of two senators and one House representative. It says all district territory would be included in the declaration, save for specific exclusions of federal buildings and monuments such as the White House.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, of Maryland, has said he supports the change.

(KA)