"TAXATION without representation" was the battle cry that sparked the American Revolution. Colonists felt cheated by the British Parliament, which offered them no formal representation, yet taxed them heavily. Parliament argued that colonists were afforded virtual representation, meaning all members of Parliament kept in mind the needs of the colonists. Nevertheless, the colonists realized that they had no real say in British government and they rebelled. If the United States was born in opposition to "taxation without representation," then why does it continue to tax 599,657 of its own residents without proper representation?
Washington D.C. - the capital of the United States - is the only democratic capital in the world denied full representation in government. The District is allowed only one representative in Congress: a non-voting member of the House of Representatives. D.C. residents elect a council and mayor who govern the city, but all laws and decisions made by D.C.'s governing body can be overturned by Congress. Also, D.C. residents could not vote in presidential elections until 1963. The District's political status amounts to the disenfranchisement of nearly 600,000 Americans because the law denies D.C. residents active representation in both chambers of Congress and infringes on their right to a sovereign local government. The District should be granted full statehood to ensure all Americans can participate in the democratic process.\nFurthermore, D.C. residents pay federal taxes but cannot elect voting representatives to Congress to help decide the allotment of these funds. These residents paid about 20 billion in taxes in 2007 - a figure higher than that paid in the same year by residents in Hawaii, Maine and Alaska combined. This figure is also higher than taxes paid by the residents of 24 other states. It is indefensible to tax the District without fair political representation. It is even more troublesome, however, to charge D.C. residents higher taxes than other state residents when those in the District have no say in the allotment of federal funds.
Some opponents to granting D.C. statehood argue that the District is too small to be a state. But that is not true: The 600,000 residents of the District make it more populous than the state of Wyoming, which has a population of 544,000. D.C. also has a population of just 20,000 less than that of Vermont and 50,000 less than that of North Dakota.
Additionally, D.C. residents can be drafted into the armed forces and die for our nation but are denied a voice in Congress - the only governing body that can declare ware. From World War I through Operation Desert Storm, about 192,000 D.C. residents of served our nation in the armed forces. Of these, the wars claimed nearly 1,700 lives. Without a doubt, D.C. residents have proven themselves so committed to this nation that they are willing to risk their lives for it. Even so, they are still denied a voice in a governing body that determines whether to commit the nation to war.
Furthermore, Congress does not represent the true wishes of D.C. residents. In fact, there are numerous instances of congressional and federal interference in D.C. laws. These instances have ranged from funding bans on needle exchange programs to attempting to overturn gun laws. A funding ban on the District's needle exchange program has only lifted within the past two years. This program works to combat the spread of HIV by offering clean needles to drug users and disposing of dirty ones. This ban harmed the residents of the District, where 3 percent of residents are HIV positive - a rate comparable to that in Uganda and areas of Kenya.
There has also been constant congressional interference with
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