house concurrent resolution no. 9
Rep. Yaroch offered the following concurrent resolution:
Whereas, The people living on the land that would eventually be designated as the District of Columbia were provided the right to vote for representation in Congress when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788; and
Whereas, The passage of the Organic Act of 1801 placed the District of Columbia under the exclusive authority of Congress; and
Whereas, In 1847, the federal government returned the portion of the District of Columbia that came from Virginia back to Virginia; and
Whereas, Residents of the District of Columbia share all of the responsibilities of citizenship, including paying federal taxes, serving on federal juries, and defending the country as members of the U.S. Armed Forces in every war since the Revolutionary War, yet they are denied full representation in Congress; and
Whereas, Congress has repeatedly interfered with the District of Columbia's limited self government by enacting laws that affect its expenditure of locally-raised tax revenue. This interference has included barring the use of local revenue, violating a fundamental principle of democracy that states and local governments are best suited to enact legislation that represents the will of their citizens; and
Whereas, Although the District of Columbia has passed consecutive balanced budgets since 1997, it still faces the possibility of being shut down yearly because of congressional deliberations over the federal budget; and
Whereas, No other democratic nation denies the right of self government, including full participation in its national legislature, to the residents of its capital; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That we urge the United States Congress to enact legislation returning the residential areas of the District of Columbia back to the state of Maryland; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.