Photo by cmoaknd

Just as she did in the opening week of the 112th Congress in 2011, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton today introduced a bill that would make D.C. the nation’s 51st state.

Co-sponsored by 15 Democrats, the New Columbia Admissions Act would turn the city’s eight wards—minus a federal district to be carved out of the middle of the city—into the State of New Columbia, offering the 618,000 residents two senators and a voting member of the House of Representatives.

Norton first introduced a statehood bill two decades ago, when it made it as far as a vote on the House floor; it failed 153-277. Since then, the push for statehood on Capitol Hill hasn’t moved much—Norton’s 2011 statehood bill attracted 27 co-sponsors but never got a hearing. In the closing days of last year, retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced a companion statehood bill, but there is no assurance that someone else will introduce it again during this new Congress.

The Democratic Party left statehood out of its 2012 platform, while Republicans formally came out against it. In November, Puerto Ricans voted to join the union as the 51st state, making some local activists start talking about joining forces with the Caribbean island to gain new stars on the U.S. flag as a pair.

“To be content with less is to concede the equality of citizenship that is the birthright of our residents as citizens of the United States,” Norton said in remarks on the House floor while introducing the bill. “It is too late for the residents of the District of Columbia to make such a concession as we approach the 212th year in our fight for equal treatment in our country.”