REPUBLICANS IN Congress did not use to make the case that residents of the District of Columbia deserved no representation in Congress; the issue was only how to do it. “Let’s be real, how can you argue with a straight face that D.C. should not have some direct congressional representation?” was the challenge put forward by then-Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) in 2004 during a House hearing on four different ways to give D.C. direct representation in Congress. Now, the Republicans’ position seems to be not only to oppose statehood. They also believe D.C. residents — taxpayers, volunteers in the military, citizens — should have no voice in their government whatsoever.
Witness some of the truly ridiculous arguments advanced this week at a hearingof the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on a bill that would make D.C. the country’s 51st state. A Republican witness said D.C. residents already impact the national debate, noting the yard signs and bumper stickers posted in support of D.C. statehood. “Where else in the nation could such simple actions reach so many members of Congress?” he asked. GOP lawmakers pointed to the paucity of car dealerships in the District and noted that the District doesn’t have an airport, a landfill, manufacturing or an agricultural sector. “A normal state” was the phrase used by one congressman who suggested the District simply doesn’t merit a seat at the table.