[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 60 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BACKING FULL VOTING RIGHTS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ON THIS, THE 
                      DAY ITS RESIDENTS PAY TAXES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 16, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today--the day that hundreds of 
thousands of DC residents pay federal income taxes while denied today 
(and every other day) the full vote to decry disenfranchisement in our 
capital city. This country was founded on the notion that, at the very 
least, by contributing to the purse, a citizen and his district ought 
to be afforded an electoral voice. `No taxation without 
representation!' they shouted then, and they (rightfully) still shout 
today. For too long, the District of Columbia has been robbed its 
voting seat in Congress. For too long, voices have been silenced and 
democracy has been severely hemorrhaged.
  Granting Washington, DC a vote in Congress is of historical import. 
That's because the city is home to one of the largest percentages of 
African American residents nationwide. Alongside our many triumphs as a 
democracy were certain failures in our not-so-distant past that we must 
never forget or recommit. We once legally, routinely, and unabashedly 
kept the vote from our African American brothers and sisters, and it 
would be a powerful symbol if a region as diverse as this one were not 
similarly kept from exercising its right to be heard. Anything short of 
that represents an unnerving setback in civil rights, one that 
indisputably has a racially disparate effect, if not intent.
  The District is in need. It has gradually given way to an unfortunate 
schism, where this country's well-to-do and politically powerful live 
and work side by side with communities, namely of color, plagued by 
overwhelming poverty, rundown schools, and unsafe streets. If any area 
is most deserving of partaking in the national conversation regarding 
the challenges this country faces, from the slumping economy to the 
campaign for affordable health care, it is this one. The needs of the 
District, however, are not endemic to itself--as the representative 
city for our democracy, its needs are of salience to us all. It is in 
our national interest that those needs be met with proper and full, 
electoral representation.
  We are now at a place and point of decision with legislation to 
create a vote for the District having passed this House. We now 
urgently need that the Senate act to pass this legislation and affirm 
the intention of this Congress to right this historic wrong.

                          ____________________