Thomas Massie: “If there is a constitutional way to turn D.C. into a State, this bill is not it. This bill is a farcical exercise in…”

“If there is a constitutional way to turn D.C. into a State, this bill is not it. This bill is a farcical exercise in legislative virtue signaling because it contains a fatal constitutional flaw. Let's talk about what this bill doesn't do. This bill doesn't magically convert all of D.C. into a State. This bill doesn't create a new State containing a city called D.C. Because both of these clearly violate the Constitution. Some overly clever legislative artists think they have found a new loophole, a way to create a State in D.C. without violating the Constitution. What this bill does is it seeks to shrink the city of D.C. into a tiny city, and then creates a State from the territory that is left over. The problem with that is there is the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution that gives the city of D.C. presently three electoral votes. Paradoxically, the bill itself acknowledges the constitutional flaw within because it contains an expedited procedure to vote on the repeal of the 23rd Amendment in this Chamber and the Senate Chamber. The problem is, the bill keeps plowing forward and would create a new State, even if the 23rd Amendment is not repealed. This creates the farcical situation where the few residents, which are the residents at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the First Family, would control three electoral votes. This is crazy. So, I urge my colleagues to vote for the Constitution today and vote against H.R. 51.”