Congressional Representation for the District of Columbia Statement on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment.

The Senate will vote tomorrow on a resolution for a constitutional amendment to give District of Columbia citizens full voting representation in the Congress. I strongly urge the Senate to pass the resolution.

There should be no doubt that District citizens deserve full voting representation in Congress. First, residents of the District paid over $1 billion in Federal taxes last year, and the per capita tax payment is well above the national average. Second, District residents have fought and died in every war since the War for Independence. During the Vietnam conflict, only three States suffered greater casualties than the District. Third, virtually every other country in the free world already provides full voting representation to the citizens of its capital city.

Full voting representation for the District has strong bipartisan support. The bipartisan Task Force on the District of Columbia, chaired by Vice President Mondale, strongly recommended adoption of full voting representation. The Democratic and Republican Parties included support for the measure in their 1976 platforms.

Adoption of the resolution is a major human rights priority for my administration, and I hope the Senate will vote favorably tomorrow.