Congressional Representation for the District of Columbia

First, I want to include a copy of Senate Joint Resolution No. 9 introduced by Senator Capper, which provides for the submission of the constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to provide for the-giving Congress the power to grant representation in the Congress, and among the electors of President and Vice President to the people of the District of Columbia.

(S. J. Res. 9 is as follows:)

[S. J. Res. 9, 79th Cong., 1st sess.]

JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States empowering Congress to grant representation in the Congress and among the electors of President and Vice President to the people of the District of Columbia

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States be proposed for ratification by the legislatures of the several States which, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States within seven years of the date of its passage, shall be valid as a part of said Constitution, namely: "The Congress shall have power to provide that there shall be in the Congress and among the electors of President and Vice President members elected by the people of the District constituting the seat of the government of the United States, in such numbers and with such powers as the Congress shall determine. All legislation hereunder shall be subject to amendment and repeal."

Senator HATCH. I have before me a letter written to the chairman of this committee in 1943 from the President, Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia, on an identical resolution introduced at the last session of the Congress.

I presume that the attitude of the Commissioners is the same, and it favors the resolution.

I would like that it be incorporated in the record.

Mr. KEECH. Mr. Chairman, if I may speak in response to your question, it is still in accord with the letter to the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, the Honorable Frederick Van Nuys, in

1943.

Senator HATCH. Then it will be included in the record.

(The matter referred to follows:)

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Washington, July 2, 1943.

Hon. FREDERICK VAN NUYS,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Commissioners have for report Senate Joint Resolution 33 [78th Cong. (same as S. J. Res. 9, 79th Cong.)], entitled “Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States empowering Congress to grant representation in the Congress and among the electors of President and Vice President to the people of the District of Columbia." The Commissioners believe that the proposed amendment is entirely consistent with the form of government set up in the Constitution. That document contemplated a government by the people in which taxes were to be levied and laws enacted controlling the actions of the people only through representatives duly elected by the people. The inhabitants of the District of Columbia today must obey laws and pay taxes without representation in the legislature which enacts the laws or levies the taxes. The population of the District today is in excess of that of 12 States (census of 1940). Certainly it is not in keeping with our theory of government that hundreds of thousands of citizens be disenfranchised merely because they happen to be domiciled within the District of Columbia, when citizens of States containing smaller populations are granted the full right of suffrage.

The bill and report thereon have been submitted to the Bureau of the Budget, and the Director of the Budget advises that enactment of the proposed legislation would not, at least at this time, be in accord with the President's program. Respectfully,

JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG,

President, Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia. Senator HATCH. I have received a letter from Hugh Miller, president of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association, dated September 25, endorsing the resolution and stating that it reversed the position previously taken by the association some years ago.

The letter reads as follows:

It has been brought to my attention that the subcommittee of which you are chairman is to have a hearing at 10:30 today on the Sumners-Capper resolution providing for national representation in the District of Columbia.

It is the desire of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association to be recorded in favor of this resolution, pursuant to a vote of the Association at its last meeting held on Monday, May 7, 1945. This reverses the position previously taken by the association some years ago.

I also have a letter from the Kalorama Citizens' Association dated September 25, asking a favorable report on the resolution, and it reads: As a vice chairman of the Citizens Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia, as a resident of the city of Washington for 60 years, and as a home owner in a house which I occupy and have owned for 32 years, I write to urge the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 9 to give the residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote for the President and Vice President of the United States and to be represented in the Congress of the United States. I myself have never voted in a national election in my entire life, which is a deep regret, but I have done all I could here in the civic and philanthropic life of the city. As the mother of two sons born here, I feel that the one son who has always lived here is unfortunate in that he has never had the privilege of fulfilling the highest obligation of a citizen; that is, to vote for these who plan and earry out our legislative policies. The younger son has been more fortunate in that he has moved to New Jersey, where he has taken an active part in the affairs of his community.

Mine is a typical case. I urge the favorable reporting out of the Senate Resolution No. 9, introduced by Senator Arthur Capper, who is closer to District affairs probably than any other Member of the Senate, and to whom we all owe a deep debt.

That letter is signed by Mrs. Harvey W. Wiley, vice chairman of the Citizens Joint Committee on National Representation and treasurer of the Kalorama Citizens Association.

I also have a letter from the Women's Club of Chevy Chase, Md., with a similar request, and the letter, which is in the form of a resolution, is as follows:

Resolved, That the Women's Club of Chevy Chase, Md., Inc., endorses the pending Sumners-Capper proposal to amend the Constitution of the United States by adding the following:

The Congress shall have power to provide that there shall be in the Congress and among the electors of President and Vice President, members elected by the people of the District constituting the seat of the Government of the United States, in such numbers and with such powers as the Congress shall determine. All legislation hereunder shall be subject to amendment and repeal.

Resolved further, That we earnestly urge the Congress to give prompt and favorable consideration to this proposal of simple justice and submit it to the States for ratification.

The Association of Oldest Inhabitants (Colored), Inc., endorses the resolution, and their letter follows, signed by Frank D. McKinney, under date of February 20, 1945:

We, the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants, join with the progressive citizens of Washington in endorsing the Sumners-Capper bill for a constitutional amendment to grant suffrage to the citizens of the District of Columbia. We urge you to extend every effort to insure the passage of this measure and thus assure to the voteless citizens of Washington, their proper share in the management of their own affairs. Yo umay rest assured that the hopes and aspirations of every progressive citizen of this commonwealth are carried with you in this fight.

I also have a letter from the National Women's Trade Union League of America, of September 20, endorsing the resolution and asking that the amendment be submitted. Their letter is as follows:

The National Women's Trade Union League wishes to submit a statement in support of the proposed constitutional amendment providing for national representation for the District of Columbia for inclusion in the record of the hearings before the subcommittee on September 25.

Rather than delve again into the details involved in granting representation in the Congress to the residents of the District of Columbia-all of which have been explored thoroughly and are a matter of record in the reports of other hearings on this proposal-we wish to base our statement entirely on the simple principle of self-government.

The very root of our Nation is deep in the concept of self-government; our laws, our political institutions, our communiity organizations, as well as the mores of the citizenry, are steeped in self-government.

We have deplored that the Congress of the United States-the representatives of self-governed--should not have seen fit to insist that the principle of selfgovernment exist for the residents of the Capital of the Nation. Now that the war has ended and the attention of Congress can return to this problem, we hope that this deviation from the principle of self-government will be eliminated. The Fairfax Village Citizens Association passed approval of a similar amendment. Their letter of September 20, signed by Mr. Phillip W. Conant, president, reads:

This association wishes to affirm at this time its past approval of the CapperSumners amendment to grant national representation to the residents of the District of Columbia.

Also the Congress Heights Citizens' Association, whose letter reads: The Congress Heights Citizens' Association has endorsed the proposed CapperSumners Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to empower Congress to grant national representation to the residents of the District of Columbia.

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