APPENDIX The HONORABLE CARL A. HATCH, WASHINGTON, D. C., September 27, 1945. Chairman, Judiciary Subcommittee of the Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR HATCH: I have been appointed by A. J. Driscoll, president of the Mid-City Citizens Association of the District of Columbia, to represent the association before the subcommittee. I did come when the hearing was held last Tuesday. Unfortunately, no time was available to be heard personally. However, I take pleasure to inform you that the following resolution was unanimously adopted: Resolved by the Mid-City Citizens Association in meeting assembled this 24th day of September 1945, That we do hereby reaffirm our former resolutions in urging early enactment of the Capper-Sumner joint resolution conferring a limited form of suffrage upon the voteless residents of the District. We may add that: In a free government there should be no taxation without representation. This is an axiom of political science, a principle for which our forefathers fought in the war of independence. There is no civilized nation in the world whose government deprives either all of its citizens or a portion thereof of their right to vote, and at the same time calls itself a democracy. According to logical necessity, only a dictatorship can deprive its citizens of their right to vote. The citizens of the District of Columbia claim almost unanimously this inalienable right, which is enjoyed by all the other citizens of our country. The proposed amendment does not conflict with the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Government over the District. The restoration of the right to vote to the citizens of the District would be in perfect harmony with the fundamental policy of our Government to encourage by both precept and conduct the adoption of sound political principles by all nations and the establishment of democratic regimes in all the countries of the world, and it would, therefore, be acclaimed heartily by the legislative bodies of the individual States of the Union. The Seventy-seventh Congress, first session, the Committee of the Judiciary in the Senate, Report 646, adversely reported, then pending before Congress, the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, providing for national representation of the people of the District of Columbia. They state in the report the history of the issue and explain the proposed amendment then pending before that body. However, to meet such objections as were raised at that time the present proposed amendment is submitted for the consideration of the Judicial Committees of the Senate and House and it is believed that all these objections have now been overcome by the proposed amendment before this honorable body at this time. For the above reasons, therefore, it is urged that the Judiciary Committees of both Houses of Congress adopt the Sumners-Capper proposed amendment to the Constitution to provide national representation for the District of Columbia. Respectfully submitted. SOTERIOS NICHOLSON, Chairman, Committee Law and Legislation, 61 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CONGRESS OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS, INC., Senator CARL A. HATCH, Washington 9, D. C., September 27, 1945. United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR: The District of Columbia Congress of Parents and Teachers, by a formal resolution duly passed at its annual convention in May 1943, approved "the rights of the citizens of the District of Columbia for national representation, i. e., the right to elect their own Representatives in the Congress of the United States and to exercise the full right of franchise in the elections of the President and Vice President of the United States." This action still stands, never having been rescinded. The proposal, now before your committee, was not specifically endorsed, but its principles were. Hence, this letter is filed to show our support of national representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia. Respectfully yours, Mrs. ARTHUR C. WATKINS, President. [Reprint of subcommittee print] October 8, 1945 The subcommittee amendment recommended to the full committee is shown in italic after the resolving clause. [S. J. Res. 9, 79th Cong., 1st sess.] [Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 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."] That the following article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States: "Article "Section 1. 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 government of the United States with such powers as the Congress shall determine. The number of such members shall not exceed two in the Senate, a number in the House of Representatives equal to the number of Members of the House of Representatives to which a State having the same population as such District would be entitled, and a number among the electors equal to the sum of the number of members which the Congress authorizes such District to have in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. All legislation hereunder shall be subject to amendment and repeal. "Sec. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress." |