D.C. Officials Look to Next Congress for Representation
District of Columbia leaders vowed Wednesday to press the next Congress to give the city’s residents full representation in the House or freedom from federal income taxes.
District residents pay federal taxes and are entitled to vote for president, but their congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, cannot vote on the House floor.
Norton said she will take the issue to the 107th Congress when it convenes in January.
“We should have representation or we should have the status of the territories,” Norton said.
Residents of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exempt from federal income taxes. District residents annually pay about $2 billion in federal taxes.
The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that the district’s residents are not entitled to voting membership in the House.
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