Give D.C. residents their right to vote

Recently the Senate failed to reach the required 60 votes to end debate on the landmark DC House Voting Rights Act of 2007.

The setback for the legislation, which passed the House several months ago, was spearheaded by Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and others.

The League of Women Voters US issued a statement:

"League members nationwide are saddened beyond words that after 200 years, Americans in our nation's capital must wait even longer to have the same rights as the citizens of Baghdad or virtually any other capital in the world."

"Senator McConnell and those in his ranks should be ashamed of themselves. Standing right here on D.C. soil, they have told more than 600,000 people …that they should pay taxes and fight for our country, but they don't deserve the right to vote."

McConnell and the Republicans voting with him against the bill said it is unconstitutional because Washington D.C. is not a state.

However, the founders never intended that the citizens of D.C. not have the right to vote.

Initially, Alexander Hamilton proposed to let D.C. residents vote with Maryland or Virginia until their population grew, at which time Congress would give D.C. voting representation.

Today, Washington, D.C. has a larger population than Wyoming, but still has no voting representation in Congress.

How has our country arrived at the point where the Constitution is conveniently ignored to suspend habeas corpus and wiretap Americans without a court order, and the Constitution is conveniently invoked to deny 600,000 D.C. citizens, who lost more people in the Vietnam War than 10 states did, and who pay one of the highest per capita federal income taxes in the country, representation in Congress?

Jan Kay

President

Wheaton League of Women Voters