Washington, D.C., is home to our country’s most important democratic institutions. Yet, those living in our nation’s capital lack both their own representation in Congress and full control over their local government. Congress must address this issue and push for statehood to ensure that D.C. residents have the same representation and autonomy as other Americans.
The issue of D.C. statehood is not new. For centuries, residents of Washington, D.C., have advocated for statehood or some other form of increased congressional representation. However, the issue has brought more attention to it over the past few years.
The arguments for D.C. statehood are clear. There are nearly 700,000 people who live in Washington, D.C., which makes it more populous than the states of Vermont and Wyoming. People living in D.C. are citizens, pay taxes and serve in the military, yet they lack proper representation in Congress. Washington, D.C., has one non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives and no representatives in the Senate. This means that, despite being citizens of the United States, residents of D.C. do not have any voting representatives advocating for their interests in Congress.