Taxation without representation is beyond the shadow of a doubt the most compelling reason for Washington D.C. statehood, but in light of the Covid-19 virus and the January 6th, Capitol Hill insurrection is Washington D.C. statehood the most patriotic reason???
“No taxation without representation” not the more lofty idealistic democratic principle, “all men are created equal and therefore are endowed with certain unalienable rights”, was the principle that literally triggered the founding of the greatest democracy in human history, America. In 1773 American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, rather than pay a tea tax imposed on them by a British government that would not allow any input or representation from American colonists. This was the first act of American independence leading to the 1776 Declaration of Independence from Great Britain and the creation of what we know today as the United States of America.
The fact that in 2021 the 700,000 American citizens who live in Washington D.C. have no voting representation in the U.S. Senate and limited representation in the U.S. House, is the same anathema to American democracy that the American colonists faced in 1773. Fortunately for 2021 American democracy, there is a constitutional way to rectify this travesty of justice short of Washington D.C. citizens dumping tea in the Potomac River or declaring Washington D.C. statehood.
Washington D.C. residents should and can be given the right to vote in federal elections without making Washington D.C. a state
For 14 years after the U.S. Constitution created the Washington District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) American citizens who lived in Washington D.C. were able to vote in federal elections as part of either Maryland or Virginia federal elections. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 changed that by stripping the right to vote in federal elections by anyone who lived in the newly created territory of Washington D.C.
Until the 1961 passage of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Washington D.C. citizens could not vote in presidential elections. And it wasn’t until the 1970 District of Columbia Delegate Act that Washington D.C. citizens got limited representation in the U.S. House with the current non-voting House Delegate who can vote in committee and participate in any debate but cannot vote for the final passage of a bill.
What U.S. Congresspersons and Senators took away in 1801 they can give back in 2021. Since the land that currently makes up all of Washington D.C. used to be part of the state of Maryland, the U.S. House and Senate can amend the Washington D.C. Organic Act of 1801 and restore the right of all Washington D.C. citizens to vote in Maryland federal elections.
Washington D.C.’s current non-voting House Delegate who can only vote in committee and participate in a debate, but cannot vote for final passage of a bill, would no longer be a House Delegate but would become a Congressperson with full voting rights as an additional member of the Maryland Congressional Delegation, representing exclusively Washington D.C. residents. Washington D.C.’s 700,000 residents would also be eligible to vote for both of Maryland’s 2 U.S. Senators, giving them representation in the U.S. Senate they currently do not have. Allowing Washington D.C. residents to once again vote in Maryland federal elections would immediately eliminate the strongest reason for Washington D.C. statehood, and shift the focus to why Washington D.C. statehood might not be the best thing for American democracy.
There has been one consistent conflict existing within American democracy from its day-1 beginning. The federal versus state conflict of where state powers end and federal powers begin and vice versa. The conflict of where state powers end and federal powers begin was so divisive it caused the Civil War. When American citizens staged the January 6th riot in the nation’s capital to overthrow the democratically elected federal government, and the response by some states to the Covid-19 virus, both demonstrate how divisive forces within some American States are determined to have their state reject and defy federal subjugation.
The federal versus state conflict, Washington D.C.’s planning for the Trump rally, and the Trump Capitol Hill riot, all demonstrate reasons to reject Washington D.C. statehood. In the weeks preceding the Capitol Hill insurrection Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in a letter addressed to acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller rejected federal assistance saying, “The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is prepared for this week’s First Amendment activities. The protection of persons and property is our utmost concern and responsibility. MPD is well trained and prepared to lead the law enforcement, coordination, and response.”
This was one of the reasons that the Capitol Hill Police were so undermanned in repelling the riot. Mayor Bowser rejected federal assistance for the same reason that the 3 Governors of New York, Virginia, and Delaware refused former-then President Donald Trump’s request to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. after several days of unrest over the death of George Floyd. Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia said: “I am not going to send our men and women in uniform, a very proud National Guard, to Washington for a photo op.” Northam’s quote reflected the concern that Bowser and the 2 other Governors had over Trump ordering federal police to use tear gas to clear peaceful demonstrators from a park near the White House, so he could walk to a nearby church and pose with a Bible.
Since Bowser is not Governor of a state or Mayor of a traditional incorporated city, but a chief executive of a federal District, after the riot began her request for no federal assistance could be ignored and overruled without even speaking to her while federal troops were ordered into Washington D.C. by former-then Vice President Mike Pence. If Washington D.C. statehood were a reality the federal District would be limited to the White House, the Capitol, federal office buildings, and federal monuments but not the streets that lead to them, so theoretically when the Trump riot occurred a Gov. Bowser could not have been ignored or overruled. Her PERMISSION would have been required for federal troops to access the streets that lead to the Capitol or other federal buildings such as the White House.
A permission that I’m sure a Gov. Bowser would grant based on the great responsible job she is currently doing as Washington D.C. Mayor. But what if the script were flipped and instead of President Crazy reaching out to Governors Bowser and Northam, it is President Bowser reaching out to a Governor Crazy, who tells her he has to wait before sending the National Guard, or wait to give access to the state’s streets for Capitol Hill troop reinforcements until the state’s Secretary of State recounts the election votes, or until the state legislature votes on whether or not to change the electors that citizens elected to the electoral college.
Right now there are more federal troops in Washington D.C. than in Afghanistan, and for a few days, they had no proper place to sleep when they were not on duty. Since Washington D.C. is currently a 10 square mile District the federal government has the ability if needed to repurpose any building within the District, with no consultation with any other government, as a place for troops to sleep. Washington D.C. statehood would require state cooperation with the federal government for repurposing any building because Washington D.C. statehood means all non-federal buildings would be located in a state.
The federal government deserves the same power and flexibility all other lower governments in America exert, a broad space to work its will, grow its footprint, and enough logistical territory to defend its space if needed, without consultation or conflict with any other government authority. Federal government space can’t be limited to the square footage of federal buildings, federal parks, and federal monuments.
We saw the federal versus state conflict arise when some Governors rejected former-then President Trump’s virus guidance on when to restart their state economies and reopen schools, we continue to see it now as some Governors reject President Biden’s virus guidance on mask-wearing. Washington D.C. statehood would prevent any President from the possibility, if required, of establishing a square mile mask-wearing zone around the White House, Capitol Hill, or the Pentagon. Because all federal buildings would be literally surrounded by a state, which could order all businesses in the state located on streets that lead to the doorstep of every federal building, park, or monument, to defy President Biden’s federal guidance to wear a mask.
The ultimate potential danger Washington D.C. statehood poses to American democracy is that for the 1st time in American history, a state and it’s Governor would have the power to grant or deny street access to American citizens wishing to exercise their constitutional right to march in nonviolent protest to the White House, Capitol Hill, or any other federal buildings or monuments surrounded by that state.
The American Constitution is clear, the federal government dictates to and regulates the states, and the states do not dictate to or regulate the federal government. Southern-state slavery, the Civil War, northern-state discrimination, and the numerous instances of state-sanctioned voter suppression efforts currently taking place throughout the United States, validates the wisdom of the founding fathers constitutionally mandating that state rights never should supersede federal regulation.
Therefore since there is an alternative constitutional remedy to grant the 700,000 Washington D.C. residents the full federal voting rights their American citizenship entitles them to, the federal government should not diminish or subjugate its constitutional duty to be the final arbiter of American democracy, American equality, American justice, and American freedom by surrounding itself in Washington D.C. statehood.