Fresh off of the loss of one of her few Congressional perks, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton today introduced three pieces of legislation that, by varying degrees, would address the District’s lack of voting rights.

The first bill would push Congress to vote on allowing the District to join the union as the 51st state, known as New Columbia — a move that was similarly considered but failed in 1993. (Last week, Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. introduced legislation pushing Norton to demand statehood.) The second bill would grant the District two senators and a representative in the House, while the third would give the District just one representative.

But even Norton seems resigned to the fact that none of these proposals will go anywhere. “The elimination of the city’s vote in the Committee of the Whole last week by the new Republican majority, despite approval of the city’s vote by the federal courts, demonstrates that consideration of any of these bills will not occur at this time,” notes a statement from her office.

No matter, Norton continues. The point is to keep demanding rights enjoyed by every other American citizen.

“In introducing these bills, we lay down a marker of our determination to never relent or retreat until we have obtained each and every right to which we are entitled, whether through the frustration and anguish of the incrementalism that Congress has always forced upon us or with the full and complete set of rights, which would be achieved through statehood,” added Norton.

It is truly a depressing sign of the times for the D.C. voting rights movement when our Congressional delegate introduces legislation that has been introduced before with no additional expectation that it will pass this time around.