Talking Points, Quotes on D.C. Voting Rights Bill, DC Statehood, and Democracy

The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org 

TALKING POINTS & QUOTES on the DC Voting Rights bill, DC statehood, and democracy, courtesy of the DC Statehood Green Party 

WASHINGTON, DC -- DC Statehood Green Party leaders are calling on Congress and the people of Washington, DC to understand what's at stake in the DC Voting Rights bill (HR 328, titled the 'DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act') as it faces a vote in the US House of Representatives. 

The Statehood Green Party has declined to support HR 328, and is instead calling on Congress to support statehood for the District of Columbia.  Statehood Greens have noted that HR 328 falls short of providing real democracy and equality for DC residents, that it may backfire on Democrats, and that it may be found unconstitutional. 

Statehood Green leaders also sharply criticized Mayor Fenty and DC Council for claiming to support DC democracy while inviting Congress to strip the DC School Board of its powers. 

TALKING POINTS 

• DC statehood, unlike HR 328, would give DC residents real democracy, full rights, and equality with all other US citizens, and is fully constitutional. Real democracy means self-determination and self-governance. That's why the DC Statehood Green Party and many DC democracy advocates support DC statehood and do not endorse HR 328. 

• HR 328 grants DC citizens a single voting seat in Congress. All other Americans enjoy three voting seats: one Representative and two Senators. Rather than granting equality, HR 328 makes DC residents '1/3 citizens' -- which some democracy advocates have called an insult to a city with a majority African American population. Statehood would give DC residents all three seats -- full voting rights -- in Congress. 

• HR 328 may face a legal challenge, based on the US Constitution's provision of voting seats in Congress solely to states (Article 1, Section 2). A decision by the US District Court for DC in 2000 (Adams v. Clinton) held that "the Constitution does not contemplate that the District may serve as a state for purposes of the apportionment of congressional representatives."  When the Supreme Court reviewed the ruling it offered no challenge. Supporters of HR 328 argue that Congress holds the power to grant DC a voting seat, but in Clarke v. US (DC Circuit, 1989) and Palmore v. US (1973), courts ruled that Congress's plenary authority over the District under Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 17 may not "contravene any provisions of the Constitution."  A report published on February 12 by the Congressional Research Service said: "Although not beyond question, it would appear likely that the Congress does not have authority to grant voting representation in the House of Representatives to the District." According to these opinions, only a constitutional amendment may allow DC one or more voting seats in Congress (i.e., unless DC were granted statehood). 

• President Bush declared that he will veto HR 328 on constitutional grounds. The President and Congress should be challenged to support DC statehood. It's hypocritical to ask young men and women from DC who serve in the US Armed Forces to risk their lives allegedly to bring democracy to Iraq, when they don't enjoy democracy -- self-determination and self-government as well as full representation in Congress -- at home. 

• Because HR 328, if passed, will gives Utah a new voting seat in the US House, it will also give Utah a new vote in the Electoral College, since the number of electors is tied to the number of Representatives. DC already has three (Democratic) electors and will not gain a new one. Republicans would gain an edge in close national elections. 

• HR 328 contains a nonseverability clause, but a temporary injunction in the event of a lawsuit may allow Utah its new (Republican) voting seat while the DC vote would be blocked until a ruling is issued. The injunction would suspend Democratic rule in the US House. 

• HR 328 will not bring democracy to DC, despite claims by DC Vote and other supporters of the bill. Representation in a legislature does not guarantee democracy. Throughout history, colonies enjoyed voting seats in the legislatures of nations that conquered them, but still suffered oppression. Even though many of the American colonists complained about 'taxation without representation,' our Founding Fathers and Mothers fought for independence and democracy, not 'voting rights.' Patrick Henry never said, "Give me a vote in Parliament or give me death." 

• HR 328 will not reduce the power of Congress to force unwanted laws and policies on DC and to veto locally passed legislation. It will not end DC's status as America's 'last colony' and 'last plantation.'  

• List of recent examples of Congress's power over DC; none of the following would be prevented by HR 328: 

  • -- Congress overturned a ballot measure for medical marijuana ('Initiative 59') that had passed with a 69% majority in 1998 

  • -- Congress has imposed 'zero tolerance' laws; imposed a charter school system; outlawed needle exchange in DC to prevent HIV transmission; prohibited DC from taxing commuters (a source of revenue for all other cities); demanded a new convention center to be paid for with a DC surtax for the profit of suburban businesses. 

  • -- Congress (through the appointed Financial Control Board) ordered former Mayor Anthony Williams to dismantle DC General Hospital, the District's lone full-service public health facility

  • -- In 1997, Newt Gingrich called DC a 'laboratory' for Republican policies. Congress members have sought to overturn DC's gun control laws, enact the death penalty, impose a school voucher program, and deny benefits for same-sex couples. 

• Statehood for DC could be achieved by Act of Congress (requiring a simple majority), without a constitutional amendment (requiring ratification by 2/3 of states). In 1846, an Act of Congress removed Arlington from DC and ceded it to Virginia, proving that Congress may alter the District's borders. Congress may therefore reduce the constitutionally mandated federal enclave to encompass only the federal properties (White House, Capitol, Mall, etc.), freeing the rest of DC to choose statehood by a plebiscite vote. DC could then be admitted to the union as a state, as were all other states after the initial 13 colonies. DC would get two Senators and one Representative. 

• The DC Statehood Green Party and the Stand Up!  for Democracy in DC Coalition have drafted a petition for DC statehood http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/statehoodnow to be sent to the UN Committee on Human Rights and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which monitor compliance with treaties that the US has signed and ratified. In 2006, the Human Rights Committee found that DC's lack of voting representation in Congress violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The ruling was the result of a decade of work by democracy advocate Tim Cooper. 

• In 2004, the Democratic Party deleted a plank supporting DC statehood from its national platform. The Republican Party does not support DC statehood. The Green Party of the United States (of which the DC Statehood Green Party is an affiliate) is the only national party that endorses DC statehood in its national platform.  Green candidates across the US have declared their support for DC statehood. 

• Arguments have been made for retrocession to Maryland, but both Maryland and DC residents have rejected the idea. Marylanders see DC as a potential economic drain on the state. Polls have shown that a majority of DC residents desire statehood. 

• On January 3, 2007, residents applauded Mayor Adrian Fenty's inaugural speech when he endorsed DC statehood. Unfortunately, Mayor Fenty undermined his endorsement a few days later when he announced he'd go over the heads of voters and ask Congress to amend the DC Charter to strip the DC Board of Education of its powers. According to the Charter itself, such amendments can only be enacted upon passage of a voters' referendum, but Congress can override DC law and may exercise its own power to amend the Charter. If Congress takes such action, it will be a major blow to DC democracy. Statehood Greens and other advocates for DC democracy and public education have criticized the hypocrisy of Mayor Fenty, many DC Council members, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton for supporting the School Board takeover scheme, and are calling on Congress to reject it. The DC Statehood Green Party is working in coalition with parents and citizens' groups like Save Our Schools <http://www.saveourschoolsdc.org> that oppose the takeover. 

QUOTES

• Gail Dixon, a Statehood Green Party member, former elected member of the DC School Board, and long-time statehood advocate: "Don't be fooled -- the Norton-Davis bill is a symbolic piece of legislation dressed up to look like democracy.  We call on Congress to grant us real democracy -- self-governance in the form of statehood. Democracy for DC is one of the last major legal civil rights hurdles." 

• Renee Bowser, Statehood Green candidate for the Ward 4 seat on DC Council in the May 1 special election <http://www.reneebowser.com/ward4.php>: "Until we win self-determination and are allowed to become a state, the people of DC will continue to see Congress force unwanted policies on us and veto locally passed legislation. We now have the status of colony -- a stinging insult to a city with an African-American majority." 

• David Schwartzman, Coordinator of the Statehood Green Party's Tax and Budget and Legislative Agenda Committees: "Imagine that the Mayor of Boston, in 1776, endorsed the Declaration of Independence, and then a week later invited the British Redcoats to occupy Boston. That's essentially what Mayor Fenty did when he endorsed DC statehood in his inaugural speech on January 3, and a few days later said he'd ask Congress to force the School Board takeover down our throats." 

MORE INFORMATION

The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org 

The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 

Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition
http://www.standupfordemocracy.org
 
Twenty DC Citizens Lawsuit: The case for full
democracy and equality
http://www.dccitizensfordemocracy.org 

The DC Statehood Papers: Writings on DC Statehood
& self-government by Sam Smith
http://prorev.com/dcsthdintro.htm