Washington DC is a federal district in the United States where George Washington set its borders. Virginia and Maryland both gave land for the capital, and the capital has many problems. It is the only democracy in the world with no voting representation in the national legislature. DC has many problems with its legislature because it is not considered a state, so it doesn't get the power of one, but still bears the responsibility. There are three main reasons why it should become a state or at least get the powers of one: it has the ability to become a state, it doesn’t get necessary benefits that the states get, and they do not get enough representation.
First off, even though DC would become the smallest state in the US if it were to become one, it would still be perfectly capable of being a state. The 23rd amendment states the maximum size the capital can be, but it does not require it to have a minimum size. Currently, Washington, DC has 712,816 residents living in the area. That amount is more than Vermont or Wyoming has. Washington DC is also financially stable enough to become a state. Residents in DC pay the highest federal taxes per capita in the nation, yet they do not get all the rights or privileges of a US citizen.
Next, Washington DC does not get many benefits that other states because they are ultimately controlled by the federal government. On January 6, 2021, after the defeat of Donald Trump in the election, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the capital building in DC because they believed that the election was fraudulent. Because DC can’t use the DC National Guard without the president's consent, the Mayor could not get apt defenses to protect their people. This caused the Capitol Police to be outnumbered and the D.C. Metropolitan Police department to be stretched too thin to protect its own residents. Then, they had to find aid from neighboring districts. In no other place in the US would this be a problem.
Lastly and most importantly, they do not get the same representation or powers as other states do. This is, again, because they are controlled by the federal government too much, so they barely have a say in anything. Citizens of DC are not able to vote on any of the federal laws that govern them and control their livelihoods. The federal government can also completely abolish the local government. They were granted home rule in 1973, which allowed them to make local solutions to problems, yet the federal government can still prevent their decisions. This doesn’t even happen rarely, having years where the federal government can try to prevent 25 local laws in one year. Even though they have a representative in the house, they can’t even vote.
Because they can be a state, but don’t get the benefits of representation like the states, they should be able to become one. All in all, Washington DC is given the responsibilities of a state, yet it does not get the power of one because the federal government takes too much control over it.
Sources:
https://norton.house.gov/issues/why-dc-should-be-a-state
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/543333-why-dc-should-become-our-51st-state/
Questions:
What are your thoughts?
Do you think that DC should become a state?
Do you think that DC should get the benefits of being a state without officially being one?
Why?
Replies
I completely agree with you, and giving the citizens and local government representations could do a lot of good for everyone living there. By doing this, it would increase public safety by having them being able to act quicker without needing permission from president and give them more representation in congress.
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