I lived in Washington D.C. for two years back in the early 1970’s while I was in the Air Force. I didn’t care for the place at that time: the weather was crappy and traffic was a mess, as the city wasn’t designed in 1790 with automobiles in mind.
Another thing that wasn’t envisioned two hundred and thirty years ago was America’s capitol growing into a compact city with 705,000 plus residents. Washington D.C. now is the 20th most populous city in the United States and is home to more citizens than the States of Vermont and Wyoming. (It also has a nice subway!)
And yet, American citizens/taxpayers residing in D.C. have no representation in Congress.
Like many other odd circumstances arising from our Constitution (for example, the Electoral College) and beginnings as a country, the status of the Nation’s capitol city was MacGyvered together back in 1801 after angry debates amongst the Founding Fathers regarding the location of the capitol and how it would function.
One peculiar feature that they devised: citizens residing in D.C. would not be allowed to vote for President of their own democratic country! (Of course, these were the same level-headed folks who determined that a “Negro” person was three-fifths of a human being.) The political absurdity in D.C. was corrected after one hundred and sixty years with the adoption of the 23rd Amendment in 1961, and District voters were able to participate in the Presidential election of 1964.
There has been an African-American majority in Washington D.C. since 1960, and all but one of the District’s electoral votes have been cast for Democratic candidates since 1964. Periodic calls for D.C. statehood have been, predictably, panned by the Republican Party and its representatives in Congress.
I read today that another effort is being made by partisans eager for D.C. statehood.
On the basis of population, the proposal is a no-brainer. Why shouldn’t these Americans be entitled to the same rights as citizens in the rest of the country? They vote for President, pay taxes, and serve their country in the military. Many of them work in Federal offices and keep the Nation functioning regardless of which political party is in power.
Politically, however, D.C. statehood it is a non-starter. Nowadays, Republicans and Democrats cannot even agree that the sun will rise in the morning. Certainly, the Republicans will find fault (“it’s not what the Founding Fathers had in mind!”) with a proposal that would probably give Democrats more voice in Congress.
And so, the residents of D.C. will continue to be second-class citizens…just like the American citizens of Puerto Rico… who also have a legitimate gripe.
A territory of the United States since 1898, Puerto Rico has twice the population of Hawaii and more than four times the population of Alaska…and Washington D.C., for that matter. In fact, if Puerto Rico was a State, it would be a home to more American citizens than seventeen States.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 but cannot vote for President and do not have any representation in Congress. They can be drafted for military service (when the draft is in effect) and do not pay Federal income tax. The latest referendum (2017) on statehood vs. status quo resulted in an overwhelming majority favoring statehood.
In October, 2017 a terrible hurricane devastated Puerto Rico. President Trump’s response, to an island populated by 3 million American citizens, was to toss rolls of paper towels to a crowd of relief workers, congratulate himself, and criticize the island’s political leaders for seeking Federal disaster aid. A President who had to answer to Puerto Rican voters wouldn’t have disrespected American citizens in this fashion.
Puerto Rico will remain the redheaded stepchild of the United States unless Congress changes that status. As in the case of proposed statehood for Washington D.C., partisan politics will decide the issue.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill endorsing statehood for Washington D.C. The bill now goes to the Senate, where most Democratic Party-supported legislation…succumbs.
Simultaneous with the D.C. statehood push, Congress is also considering Federal voting rights legislation which would make it harder for some States to “suppress” voting by qualified citizens. Also being considered by the Biden Administration (behind the scenes) is the idea of expanding the Supreme Court by a couple of seats. And then there is the Administration’s big agenda item, the Infrastructure Plan, which both sides want but can’t (right now) yet agree on the details.
Maybe some old fashioned “horse trading” is in order?
Something has to give: if Republicans oppose everything in the Senate, then Democrats may have to eliminate the filibuster, which allows the opposition to “talk to death” legislation that it is not keen on.
Negotiation and compromise used to be the way things got done in Congress…progress one inch at a time. However, at least our elected officials advanced the ball. In 2021, it seems like obstinance is more highly regarded in our politicians.
What happened to “Politics: The art of getting things done”?
If we are to consider ourselves a “democracy”, then it would follow that all citizens should be allowed to participate fully and equally in that model.