Letter to the editor: DC deserves statehood

More than 200 years ago, our ancestors fought a revolution over taxation without representation; they fought a revolution for the right to create a democracy, and as a result, the United States of America was born. But to this day, the residents of Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, are denied a vote in Congress. They are denied the right of full representation and participation in our government despite paying more total federal income taxes than residents of 22 states. This is the essence of taxation without representation, and it is going on in our country in 2021. It is time to right a wrong and stand for the values upon which we as a nation were founded.

The residents of D.C. have not just paid their share of federal taxes, but also have given their sons and daughters to defend and protect the very rights that they themselves have been denied for so long. Yet despite paying their taxes and sacrificing their blood, the District, during the covid-19 pandemic, was denied emergency funds under the CARES Act.

Since its founding, our country has enlarged itself through authorizing and admitting other lands to statehood. When Hawaii was admitted, it had a population of 600,000. D.C. has a population of 712,000.

Act now to give D.C. residents the right to participate fully in our democracy. Help us all live up to the ideals of democracy and to evidence true and just equality by voting now for D.C. statehood.

Mary Hofford

Irwin