D.C. is NOT a State

Congress is back in session ready to wreak more havoc. First up on this week's Senate agenda is a piece of legislation which may be more accurately described as an unconstitutional power-grab.

Sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 (S. 160), would establish full House of Representatives voting rights for the District of Columbia. However, there is one small problem: D.C. is NOT a congressional district or a state!

Article I, Section 8, clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution makes it clear that D.C. is a federal city, not a state, with final governing authority resting with Congress. The U.S. Constitution states that the House shall be composed of "Members chosen...by the People of the several States," not delegates representing non-state territories.

This is simply the first step for achieving their ultimate goal which is to establish two permanent Democrat Senate seats for the District. If the initial inclination is for D.C. to be "considered a Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives," then the idea for D.C. to be "considered a state for the purposes of representation in the U.S. Senate," will not be far down the road.

The Senate is scheduled to vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to debate of S. 160 today! Please call and email your Senators and tell them to vote NO on this openly unconstitutional bill!

Senator Maria Cantwell - (202) 224-3441

Senator Patty Murray - (202) 224-2621