Third Draft of Rogerian Argument

Matthew Reed

ENGL 102-061

Rogerian Argument

3 April 2014

Six Hundred Thousand License Plates:

An Argument for an Amendment for Congressional Representation in Washington D.C.

Fig. 1 Senate Minority Blocks D.C. Voting Rights  ("Senate Minority Blocks D.C. Voting Rights")

The freedom for representation was one of the founding principles of this country. Being able to vote for people to represent the public in Congress and other high echelons of American politics is considered one of the marks of American freedom. While many groups, such as women and African Americans, were disenfranchised, they later earned to ability to vote in national and state elections of the course of many years. However, there is one city in the United States that is unable to give its voice to the people in Congress. That city is the city in which Congress resides, Washington D.C. The problem is that the District of Columbia is not represented on any federal level in either the House of Representatives or in the Senate. In fact, our nation’s capital is the only capital of a democratic nation that does not have voting representation or any home rule (“Why DC Voting Rights Matter”).This argument is intended to show the reader that there needs to be an amendment added to the Constitution that will give the District the right to have a voice for the people living in our nation’s capital.

The reader may be asking, “I do not live in Washington D.C. Why should I care about their voting laws?” This argument brings up one question. Does the reader believe in the right for everyone to vote? Even if one does not vote, that person should still believe in the right of those who do intend to voice their opinion to vote on who should represent the on the national level. Being denied this voting right does not seem representative of what we have thought to be the principal of our version of democracy. This argument is not about voting, but instead about representation. In this argument, one problem arises. The Constitution states in Article I, Section 2 that the House of Representative is comprised of members that are voted upon by “the Electors in each State.” (National Archives) Washington D.C. is not a state, although it is sometimes considered a state in some legal sense, for instance, when there was a provision passed to control interstate commerce (James). This legality only happens sometimes, since other times Washington is passed up on state programs, such as the disadvantaged teens program (“Why DC Voting Rights Matter”). Is this double standard of state legality necessary? Supporters of representation use the argument of the population. According to the 2010 census, the District of Columbia has a population of over 600,000 (2010 Census). Supporters then use the example of the state of Wyoming, which has a population much less than that, a little over 550,000 people.

To start a conversation about representatives for the capital of the nation, one must look back at the voting rights history of the city. Residents of Washington D.C. were able to vote in elections and have equal representation since the early 1790s (“DC Voting Rights”). DC residents could vote for House members in both Maryland and Virginia (James). The in 1801, Congress passed an Organic Act. The President was then able to appoint city officials from then on (James). In 1874, any “self rule” for voting in the District was stripped away from them (James) and because of Washington’s lack of self rule, Congress can legislate any local matters (“Why DC Voting Rights Matter”). Washington would become part a “laboratory for ill-fated experiments…that members of Congress would never impose on their own constituents (“Why DC Voting Rights Matter”).”

This lack of self rule went on until 1963, when the Twenty-Third Amendment was ratified. This amendment granted the residents of Washington D.C. the right to vote in presidential elections (James). Other laws were passed to give voting rights to those in Washington D.C. The Home Rule of 1973 gives District voters the right to vote in election for their city’s mayor and the city council (James). A constitutional amendment on this subject was actually proposed in 1978. Unfortunately, the amendment did not receive enough votes to become ratified (James). Congress at this point seems to be in almost complete control of the city, such as with budget and the review of local laws. This control continued to the point at which DC residents actually developed their own constitution and asked for statehood. If the city were to become its own state, they would have been called New Columbia. This proposal went nowhere (James). Proposals for a bill are passed through Congress every couple of years but never make it out of the House. The resurgence of talk about Washington representation started in 2000, when an angry radio talk-show listener went on the air and suggested license plates that read the classic Revolutionary War battle cry, “Taxation without representation.” This suggestion actually came true and it is now the default option for plates in Washington (James). Washington was given a delegate for the House in 1971, but s/he cannot vote (James).

A refutation comes from Republicans who say that the addition of a new seat would just be another addition to the Democratic Party. This argument is true, considering that Washington is more of a liberal town. However, this conflict seemed to be resolved in the 2009 bill that added a seat for Utah, a mostly Republican state, thus making balance in the House of Representatives (James). This balance seemed to be a great bipartisan agreement. Washington will get a seat in the House while Republicans get balance in the House with an additional seat of their own. Although this bill passed in the Senate, it then died out before passing through the House of Representatives (“S. 160 (111th)”). The idea of this balance would be a great give-and-take for both sides of the aisle and would fit into the amendment.

If an amendment had to be proposed and added to the Constitution to secure the right for Washingtonians to vote in national elections, then the only plausible thing to do to ensure the voting right and representation of the people in Washington is also to propose an amendment for that as well. Why should the people of Washington D.C. be silent? Their voice on what the government should do should also be heard. These 600,000 people can pay federal taxes and go into the Army, but what can they say or do about these and other topics? This fundamental right to vote and to have representation should be given if we want to continue living in a nation that has progressed, and will continue to progress, towards a nation of voting equality. Let the people with the license plates get what they need.

Work Cited

"2010 Census." 2010 Census. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

"FairVote.org | D.C. Voting Rights." FairVote. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
"FairVote.org | Senate Minority Blocks D.C. Voting Rights." FairVote. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

James, Randy. "Washington, D.C." Time. Time Inc., 26 Feb. 2009. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

"S. 160 (111th): District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

"The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

"Why DC Voting Rights Matter." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.