I have to admit that until we moved to DC almost 2 years ago and started seeing the "Taxation without Representation" license plates on every car, I never realized the nearly 600,000 residents of the District do not have full and equal representation in Congress. We have "delegates" and "shadow representatives", but no one who can really go toe-to-toe with Wyoming's Barbara Cubin, for example, the single representative for that state's population of 500,000.
Interestingly, there are many different perspectives on how to resolve the issue. The march on Monday was intended to drum up support for the addition of a House representative for DC, and some speechifying talked of going for full representation in the Senate as well. Given the political ramifications of the fact that the District virtually always votes Democrat, this would of course not sit well with certain other political parties. The compromise to make the proposed legislation for the house representation more palatable to the Republicans would add an at-large seat to Utah, usually a state that goes their way.
Other alternatives include pursuing statehood for the District of Columbia, which would then provide all the congressional benefits of being a state, and retrocession to become a part of Maryland again, falling under that state's umbrella of representation.
I can't say I have strong feelings about any particular approach. I think the District is a unique place that deserves to have some kind of dedicated representation in the legislative branch of the United States Government, even if it's as a congressional district of a neighboring state. Any action which draws attention to the current situation is better than no action, and I was glad to support the action on Monday.
And hey, who doesn't want to walk down the middle of Pennsylvania Ave towards the Capitol at least once in their life?
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