The U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on a D.C. statehood bill (HR 51) the weeks of the 14th and 19th of this month.
As stated in previous letters, the District of Columbia should not be admitted as a state into the Union and receive representation in the Senate unless by a constitutional ammendment due to its special status as a federal district and the nation’s capital.
However, its residents should receive representation in the House of Representatives with the elevation of its non-voting delegate into a full-voting representative since it is essentially a congressional district without representation. This is something that should have been done decades ago. If one is concerned about balance in the House of Representatives between both parties, then another congressional district can be created in a red state such as Utah, which was considered several years ago.
On the Senate side, I believe that it should receive representation but only under the following conditions. The U.S. Senate should first be expanded with the restoration of pre-17th Amendment senators who were elected by the state legislatures from 1789 to 1913. Such an action would further strengthen our states and our system of federalism.
Please contact your U.S. representative and U.S. senators and urge no on statehood but yes on representation in the U.S. House of Representatives for now. An expanded Senate should follow by passage of a constitutional ammendment with the number of senators for the District of Columbia permanently fixed at one or two with the states increased to four senators per state.
