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| Yes | 37% | 68 votes | Total: 183 votes | |
| No | 63% | 115 votes |
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Add to FavoritesMost people who do not believe that Washington DC should become the 51st state have never lived or worked there. Those people picture the District as a city of monuments and museums surrounding the White House. But 580,000 call it home. That's about 40,00 less than Vermont; 30,000 more than Wyoming.
Residents of Washington DC send their children to war, pay federal taxes and participate in the federal judicial system. The DC transportation department maintains it's roads and issues licenses, its policemen catch crooks, its firemen extinguish fires, and its teachers educate. All of this takes a budget, which is determined by DC's elected council. Maybe it sounds like a typical city or state arrangement, but there's a catch.
The US Constitution gives Congress the right to oversee a capital city. And Congress has been toying with the residents of DC for centuries. While the city has gone through several attempts at autonomy, it was only in the 60s that the 23rd Amendment to the Constituion give DC residents the right to vote. In recent history, in the 70's, Congress gave the city the power to maintain a local governement. When the city's finances went south, Congress assumed the responsibility of overseeing the budget until 1995. Although US citizens, DC residents do not have a final voting representative in Congress.
While this arrangement is similar to the territorial arrangements of the US Virgin Islands and the Commonweath of Puerto Rico, Washington DC is different in that it is sandwiched between two states, Maryland and Virginia, rather than an ocean away. Residents commute both ways between the states and the District. Lives and business intertwine. Because DC's power can be taken away at any time by Congress, the laws they have set up can be overturned.
With no state, citizens have no states' rights, a keystone of the US Republic. There are two roadblocks standing in the way. The first is strictly political. DC is overwhelmingly Democratic. Giving it electoral votes would be giving the Democratic party more punch.The current solution, a bill in Congress to add two representatives in the House helps a bit. One representative would be from DC. The other would be from Utah, a blue state. However, no increase would be made to the Senate.
The other roadblock is the Constitution itself, which establishes the stranglehold Congress has over DC. While it is necessary for the government to retain some authority, given the federal presence, a carefully worded Constitutional amendment, that covered Federal contingencies, could allow the goverment to do business in the new State of Columbia. Over a half million people could finally consider themselves full US citizens.
Learn more about this author, Liz McGuire.
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No
No, to make Washington, DC a state would be to contravene the wishes of the Founding Fathers. Their initial desire was to locate the nation's Capitol outside the boundaries of any one State. This was to prevent any one State from being able to bring undue pressure on the Federal Government by essentially holding the Capitol hostage. This potential problem was solved by building the Capitol on land donated by Maryland and Virginia.
The desire to keep the National Capitol outside of any State boundaries makes sense even today. First of all the population of Washington, DC is far below that of even our least populated State. And to make the city a state would be to complicate the governing of the District even more complex than it already is. If the District became a State, a third level of government would be added to a relatively small area and population. Plus you would be creating an additional bureaucracy which would need to be supported by the Federal Government.
By granting statehood to the District, you would be creating a State with no real economic base. The District has little, if any, industrial base, no agricultural base, and derives its major source of income from tourism, other than that provided by the Federal government. Part of this is due to the limited amount of land owned by the District. Additionally, a large part of the population which works inside the District, live outside its boundaries. Much of the land inside the District is owned by the Federal Government, which further limits any real income a new State could generate.
State governments are expected to provide the majority of the money needed to run their states. There are exceptions, such as funds contributed by the Federal government for the Federal highway system and other programs. But in the case of the District of Columbia, most of the funds for running a proposed State would come from the Federal government. Which means, the other 50 States would be required to support one State through tax dollars.
Proponents of Statehood for the District claim the people of Washington, DC have no real representation on the National level. This is not completely true. The District does have Congressional representation the same as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the other US territories. While it is true that the people are not represented by two Senators, this is really a relatively minor issue. Each year the Federal budget contains funds for running the district. However, like so many of our cities and states more could and needs to be done. It is disgraceful the way the streets and neighborhoods of the District have been allowed to decline.
The District of Columbia has one of the highest crime rates of any city in the country. Part of this might be caused by which city or federal agency has jurisdiction in each investigation. You currently have at least four agencies which could be involved, the city police, the park police, the Secret Service, and the FBI. It all depends on the crime involved. Plus you have the possible problems created by having a large number of foreign nationals with diplomatic immunity. Adding State Agencies to this would only further complicate a very complex situation.
While Washington, DC is far from being the "Crowning Jewel" of the country that it should be. Granting the District statehood is not going to solve the problems it faces. High crime rates, some of the worse slums in the country, and a road system that needs a massive overhaul is not going to be cured by adding another layer of government.
Learn more about this author, Arthur Gibson.
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