Washington, D.C., just got one step closer to statehood.
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee voted to pass legislation that would allow D.C. to become a state. The vote was split along party lines, 21 to 16.
In the debate leading up to the vote, Republicans suggested over a dozen amendments, but the Democratic majority voted against them all.
Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney called it a "step towards granting basic democratic rights to more than 700,000 Americans."
She said "The United States is a democracy, but its capital is not. The United States is the only democratic country that denies both voting rights in the national legislature and local self-government to the people of its capital."
Now, the bill heads to the full House chamber, where it's likely to pass in a vote later this year. It's the first time since 1993 that the House will vote on the capital's status. But, it's unlikely to survive the Republican-controlled Senate.
