DC Government Resource Center: DC Statehood p5: Issues

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Issues

The United States is the only nation in the world with a representative, democratic constitution that denies voting representation in the national legislature to citizens of the capital.
Statehood for the District would further the principles of democracy which the Founding Fathers framed for all American citizens.
Washingtonians have fought and died in every war since the Revolution of 1776, yet since 1800 no one representing us has participated in the decisions to send our children to war.
Our chief law enforcement officer, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, and our local court system are accountable to the president of the United States, but not to us.
The District is quite diverse, perhaps more diverse than the population of all the states. Residents have come from across the US to make their homes in the District. Each of the 50 states is well represented in the District's population. A wide range of interests and values are reflected in its people.
About 70 percent of the District's residents are employed outside of the federal and local government. Of the more than four million federal jobs throughout the US, fewer than six percent are located within the District of Columbia.
- Representation in Congress without Statehood would increase DC's political power somewhat but would not affect any of the basic colonial precepts under which the city is governed. For example, the federal government would still:
  - have plenary power over all aspects of local governance
  - control the budget
  - control the prosecution and adjudication of, as well the imprisonment for, crimes.
  - have the power to deny the city a commuter tax
  - be able to pass laws in contravention of the will of DC citizens
The District is the only political and geographical entity within the United States whose citizens bear the responsibilities of government without sharing in the appropriate privileges of government.
District residents bear all the burden of citizenship, but do not share the most cherished right of citizenship—full representation in the Congress. In addition to paying federal taxes, District residents also pay local taxes, and are subject to all the laws of the United States as well as treaties made with foreign governments.
The United States is the only nation in the world with a representative, democratic constitution that denies voting representation in the national legislature to the citizens of the capital.
A "Constitution for the State of New Columbia (as the new state will be called)," was approved by duly elected delegates from the District of Columbia on May 29, 1982, and adopted by a vote of the people of the District of Columbia in an election held November 2, 1982. The Constitution and a petition for Statehood was transmitted by the Mayor of Washington, DC to the Congress of the United States on September 9, 1983.

"…having one voting representative in the US Congress for one District representative, and nothing else, is not a cure for the injustices…in this city."—Aaron Lloyd, April 21, 2007 Politico.com

“It is fundamentally unfair that the residents of the District are…denied the self-government enjoyed by the 50 states and four territories.”—President William J. Clinton (D)

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