Representative for D.C. Would Violate the Constitution

I must alert you of a bill before the U.S. Senate that would grant a representative in Congress to the District of Columbia, which would violate the Constitution flagrantly. The Constitution requires that only states be represented in the House of Representatives with voting members.

Territories like the federal district have only ever been represented by non-voting delegates. Moreover, the District was established so that no state would dominate the federal government. Because the main industry of Washington, D.C. is the federal government, the district has an interest in expanding that government.

Although this bill would likely be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, it is nonetheless being seriously considered by the Democratic-controlled Congress. A congressional seat for the District of Columbia would add a Democrat to the House of Representatives until a court could rule on the matter. As a compromise, the Congressional Democrats also have proposed giving Utah, a solidly Republican state, an extra House seat, even though the Census will likely require an additional seat for that state in four years anyway.

Although this bill would increase the size of the House of Representatives for the first time in decades -- an overdue step -- this bill is not the right way to do so. Although I oppose statehood for the District of Columbia, a constitutional amendment to grant it statehood would at least be the more legally proper course. Another constitutional solution would be to include the District's residents with Maryland's for apportionment of Representatives and voting for senators, although this solution would give Maryland relatively undue influence over the federal government, even though it would be less than if the federal district were granted statehood.

A better solution -- and one that would not require a constitutional amendment -- would be to retro-cede the residential parts of the District to Maryland, just as parts of the District were ceded back to Virginia. Another simple solution to the problem of the District's "taxation without representation," which is not a totally true charge because the District is represented by a delegate who can speak, offer motions, bills and amendments, vote in committee and even vote on procedural matters, is to eliminate federal taxes on residents of the District of Columbia, much as the residents of other territories are exempt from federal taxation.

We must resist this blatant partisan power grab on the part of the Congressional Democrats now and resist any temptation to let the courts settle the matter. In the meantime, we can continue to offer better solutions. Perhaps conservatives can develop other good solutions. Please post any ideas here.