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- NATION, Page 19Should D.C. Be Md.?
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- The local Pooh-Bahs of Washington share a consensus in favor
- of statehood for the capital. Congressional Democrats nominally
- support creation of "New Columbia," which would have two seats
- in the Senate and one in the House, all certain to be filled
- by Democrats. But Republican opposition and the district's
- propensity for comic-opera government keep statehood low on the
- agenda.
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- Congressman Ralph Regula of Ohio recently proposed an
- alternative: returning the city to Maryland, which donated the
- land 199 years ago. That idea got scant attention until
- Governor William Donald Schaefer surprised everyone by saying
- he would accept "retrocession." But black leaders such as Jesse
- Jackson have denounced the proposal, Schaefer has backed away,
- and congressional insiders say forget it. Thus, Washington is
- likely to remain what statehooders call the last colony for the
- foreseeable future.
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