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Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered Monday that 51-star American flags be displayed on Pennsylvania Avenue before Flag Day, June 14th.
The mayor said she ordered her team to hang the 51-star flags “as a reminder to Congress and the nation that the 700,000 U.S. taxpayers living in Washington, DC are demanding to be recognized.”
The district government has placed 51-star flags along Pennsylvania Ave to the Capitol and around the White House in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2021, before a state committee hearing. of Congress Monday. (Astrid Riecken for the Washington Post via Getty Images)
“On Flag Day, we celebrate American ideals, American history, and American freedom. But the very foundation of those ideals, and the foundation of our freedom, is representation,” he said. Mayor Bowser in a statement. “DC’s deprivation of voting rights is a stain on American democracy: a 220-year-old mistake that needs to be corrected.”
The stars of the American flag represent the 50 states, the last of which, Hawaii, was admitted on August 21, 1959. The 50-star design of the American flag was made official on July 4, 1960.
The notion of DC status remains a controversial issue among lawmakers. DC has a population of more than 700,000, more than the states of Wyoming or Vermont, but residents have no voting members in the House and no representation in the Senate. Nor does the district have control over its own local affairs. However, DC 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, Democratic House lawmakers passed the “DC Admission Act,” which would make Washington, DC the 51st state and give its residents full representation in Congress.
Republican lawmakers have argued that because the Washington DC establishment is based on Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution, any change in the district must come in the form of a constitutional amendment, not legislation. of Congress. They have also argued that the idea of a DC state is little more than a takeover by the Democrats to extend the majority in the Senate by adding two more senators from a liberal enclave.
In his statement Monday, Bowser invoked the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion suggesting that Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 case that legalized abortion, was about to be overturned.
LaValle Gaston, L and Maurice Richardson are part of a team with Mayor Muriel Bowser Administration hanging 51-star flags on Black Lives Matter Plaza and along Pennsylvania Avenue on March 19, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“As Americans across the country prepare to make a decision on the future of Roe v. Wade, we are also reminded that copyright deprivation not only affects Americans living in Roe v. Wade. DC, but Americans across the country who share our values, “Bowser said. “While the stakes are even higher for Washington residents, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the majority of Americans who believe in women’s right to choose.”
Bowser suggested that most DC residents are on the same page “with most Americans” calling for “common sense gun reforms.”
“We are at a turning point for American democracy, and it is within the power of the Senate to do the right thing, adopt the representation, and advance the state of DC on the president’s desk,” Bowser said.
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On Tuesday, June 14, 2022, the nation’s 106th Flag Day will be celebrated.
Americans across the country will pay tribute to the national flag, which was adopted almost a year after the United States declared independence when the Second Continental Congress officially approved the first design of the U.S. national flag: on June 14, 1777.
Fox News’ Cortney Moore contributed to this report.