Joe Lieberman is leaving the U.S. Senate with a parting gift for the District.
He introduced a D.C. statehood bill in the Senate Thursday.
The bill would allow D.C. voters to endorse statehood and goes so far as to choose a name for the 51st state: New Columbia. Certain federal buildings and landmarks in the District, such as the Capitol and the National Mall, would not be part of the new state and would remain under federal control.
Lieberman, once a conservative Democrat from Connecticut who became an Independent in 2006, is retiring from the Senate at the end of the year.
