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Taxation without Representation: What Do You Think?
"To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States..."
-- US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Legislative Powers
The protests of colonial patriots, "No taxation without representation," fueled the American Revolution. Their fervor stands at the very head of the declaration they made in 1776 as they staked their lives for independence: "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Yet, in the constitution that the United States adopted in 1787, the district that would become the nation's seat of government was set apart. Its residents, under the exclusive control of the new government's legislative branch, would be denied the right to be governed by consent.
In 1961, through the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution, residents of the District of Columbia first achieved some of the political rights enjoyed by other American citizens -- participation in Presidential election. In 1971, two years before Congress granted the District limited Home Rule, it created one Delegate to Congress for DC -- who cannot vote on legislation in the full US House of Representatives, and no representation at all in the US Senate.
District citizens, still without even one vote in Congress, pay more in federal taxes than many states combined.
- Should Congress be able to decide how the District spends its revenue?
- Should Congress be able to overturn local laws created by the District's locally elected legislature?
- Should the Constitution be amended to create real representation in Congress for a residential population now far larger than envisioned two centuries ago?
- What do you think?
Please record your thoughts in the book below.
Delegate to Congress:
Congressional delegates are "non-voting" members of the House of Representatives, elected from US territories and the District of Columbia. The Senate has no counterparts from areas without statehood.
While not permitted to vote in the full House, a delegate may vote in the committee on which he or she serves. But legislation stipulates that "... the right to vote in committee shall be provided by the Rules of the House." That is, the House majority alone could discipline or weaken a delegate perceived as a threat to the institution of the House. |