Despite paying federal taxes and fighting in the nation’s wars, residents of Washington, D.C., do not have the congressional representation accorded all other citizens of this nation. President Barack Obama is looking to change that soon.
Using the occasion of the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day celebration to display a copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in the Oval Office, Obama is fulfilling another campaign promise — to advocate giving Washington, D.C., statehood rights.
“Americans from all walks of life are gathering in Washington today to remind members of Congress that although D.C. residents pay federal taxes and serve honorably in our armed services, they do not have a vote in Congress or full autonomy over local issues,” Obama said in a statement. “And so I urge Congress to finally pass legislation that provides D.C. residents with voting representation.”
First lady Michelle Obama is also a proponent of passing legislation to give the District that distinction and said her husband did not have to think long and hard about it. “He is a supporter of the rights of citizens here in D.C. to have the vote,” Mrs. Obama said, “and I don’t think there’s much convincing that you have to do there, you just have to get it done.”
The statehood debate — which has been batted around Congress for decades — will be back in the news next week, NBC News reported. That’s when the House is expected to tackle a bill that would include D.C. voting rights.
The District of Columbia, which remains predominantly black, has long petitioned the federal government for political representation. Recently, District residents even had license plates that read: “Taxation without Representation” as a way to voice their longstanding displeasure with their status.
Residents need a majority vote of both houses of Congress and the signature of the President to approve statehood. Republicans will likely fight the proposition. Ninety-two percent of D.C. residents voted for Obama. – terry shropshire
