A group of senators introduced the latest version of a bill that would grant the District of Columbia full statehood and congressional representation. Again titled the “New Columbia Admissions Act,” the measure is a noble, if very implausible, attempt to equalize the District with the rest of the United States.

The bill is being sponsored by four Democrats: Tom Carper of Delaware, Barbara Boxer of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Patty Murray of Washington. It would transform the District of Columbia into the fully represented state of “New Columbia,” save the areas around the White House, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court and National Mall, which would remain a federal district called “Washington, D.C.”

“Washington, D.C. is not just a collection of government offices, monuments and museums; it is home to more than 600,000 people who work, study, raise families, and start businesses,” Carper said in a news release. “These citizens serve in our military, fight in our wars, die for our country, and pay federal taxes. But when it comes to having a voice in Congress, suddenly these men and women do not count.”

This is the second time in as many months that a group of senators have introduced the New Columbia Admissions Act; in December, outgoing Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) joined Boxer, Durbin, and Murray in sponsoring it in the final hours of 112th Congress. The move was entirely symbolic, as that legislative session wound down being consumed by a withering tax debate.

Carper is also expected to take over Lieberman’s position as chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which has oversight over the District.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who introduced the companion version of the Senate bill into the House earlier this week, applauded Carper’s bill. “Joe took his leadership on D.C. equality issues in the Senate seriously, and I could not be more thrilled that Senator Carper has chosen to begin by offering leadership on the District’s ultimate goal, statehood,” she said in a news release yesterday.

Before Lieberman’s symbolic gesture last month, it had been more than 19 years since the Senate considered—even momentarily—a D.C. statehood bill. The 1993 version of the New Columbia Admissions Act had the backing of 17 senators but died a quick legislative death after its introduction into the Governmental Affairs Committee.