Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Common Sense: A Congressman has come up with a simple, reasonable plan to help the District of Columbia gain representation in Congress.

Currently 571,000 people live in Washington, DC, (more than the state of Wyoming, at 499,000) but none of the residents are able to elect a representative to Congress -- in the House or Senate. The District gets a delegate to the House, but that person is not able to vote on anything. Residents are only allowed to vote for electors in presidential elections.

The fact that half a million people are disenfranchised in our nation's capital is embarrassing (and is one of the reasons I live in neighboring Virginia). One of the problems is, the District is primarily made up of Democrats, and giving them the right to vote would cost the Republicans some power.

So House Government Reform Committee Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) introduced a bill last night that would offer a compromise. Two more House seats would temporarily be created, bringing the total number of House members to 437. The District would get one seat, and the state next in line for a seat would get the other.

The state next in line happens to be, Utah -- the reddest of the red states. That Republican stronghold would virtually guarantee that the balance of power wouldn't be shifted for the time being. Then, after the new census in 2010, the House membership would come back down to 435, and the District would retain a House seat.

Unfortunately, the bill has little chance of passing this year, what with the shortened calendar and the election looming. Also, the legislation would only address part of the problem. The residents of the District still need representation in the Senate.

Congress narrowly passed a constitutional amendment in 1978 to give the District one seat in the House and two seats in the Senate, just like every other state gets. But only a few of the states approved it, so the amendment failed.

It's amazing that people in this country ignore such disenfranchisement so easily. I guess they figure if it doesn't bother them, it must not be an issue.