Stand Up for Democracy in Dc Coalition

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The District of Columbia is the capital of the United States of America, and its 601,723 residents are seemingly second-class citizens.  For more than 235 years, District residents have been engaged in a struggle for self-determination – faced with a lack of budgetary, judicial, and legislative autonomy.

The citizenry is governed by a mayor and a 13-member Council of the District of Columbia.  However, the U.S. Congress has supreme authority over the District and may overturn local laws.  Therefore, DC residents have less self-governance than residents of the 50 states. 

The District has one congressional, non-voting delegate, one "shadow" representative, a senior "shadow" senator, and a junior "shadow" senator -- all tasked with advocating for DC statehood.  DC residents could not even vote in presidential elections until the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1961.  The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the U.S. are located in the District, but DC residents are neither represented in the U.S. House of Representatives nor the U.S. Senate.  It is unfortunate that taxation without representation is alive and well in our nation’s capital.

On July 16, 1790, the U.S. Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.  The federal district is not a part of any U.S. state.  It was formed from land along the Potomac River donated by Maryland and Virginia.  (The Virginia portion was returned by Congress in 1846.)  A new capital city named after George Washington was founded in 1791 to the east of the preexisting port of Georgetown.  The City of Washington, Georgetown, and the remaining unincorporated area within the District were consolidated under a single government in 1871, which formed Washington, DC, as it exists today. 
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Constitution of the United States
Article. I. Section. 8. Clause 17.
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;

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