WASHINGTON -- The very first hearing for D.C. statehood will be held this summer, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said in the press conference Thursday afternoon.
"We’ve announced the first hearing on #DCstatehood (HR 51) in the House in 26 years: July 24," Norton wrote on Twitter. "This is a monumental step forward for equality and self-government for D.C."
Maryland House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer spoke in support of D.C. statehood during a news conference and released an op-ed, stating the same support.
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If passed, the bill is unlikely to make any headway in the Republican-controlled Senate, but it would mark the first vote on D.C. statehood in a quarter-century and the first time either chamber of Congress has ever endorsed statehood for the nation’s capitol. Norton said in a statement Friday she believes that would generate momentum for her standalone bill, H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act.
A vote is expected July 24.