Giving the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories congressfolk

[The Arizonan]

This is a thought about how Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the territories get shafted because they get non-voting delegates.  Should they each get one congressperson provided that they are organized political units and have enough people?

They still don't get senators though.

What do you guys think?

[Santander]

None of the territories pay federal taxes, have a large degree of autonomy, and have a different relationship with the US government than DC or the states. So no.

[Blackacre]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

I'd also give the delegates from the territories full voting power in the House. Yes the territories have a different relationship with the US government, but the people there are still Americans, so they deserve some degree of participation in our American government.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Puerto Rico and DC should be given statehood.

Reunify the Mariana Islands and rectify the colonial blunder that randomly partitioned them. Turn them into a commonwealth with ultimate aim of statehood.

America Samoa and Virgin Islands should both have one voting  delegate. (There is an argument that the latter could be an autonomous part of PR, but I think they're too distinct(

[Dr. Arch]

None of the territories pay federal taxes, have a large degree of autonomy, and have a different relationship with the US government than DC or the states. So no.

Right. Shows how much you know about Puerto Rico.

[Figueira]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

Why not make them a state like they actually want? All these "compromise" ideas are insulting to the people of DC.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The Marianas are reasonably Republican, although they are very nepotistic and (like most of the non-continental United States) political parties are very different beasts from the mainland.

[Blackacre]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

Why not make them a state like they actually want? All these "compromise" ideas are insulting to the people of DC.

I'd much rather they become a state, hence the "at the very least" bit. Sorry, let me clear things up and state my preferred case scenario:

DC Statehood, becomes known as the state of Hamilton. (HA) State's constitution states that the mayor of DC is by definition the governor of the state of Hamilton. 23rd amendment repealed, and the federally-controlled district becomes just the land where the capitol and white house are.

Puerto Rican Statehood.

US Citizenship to American Samoans

And a Rep with full voting rights to every non-state territory

[Orser67]

I'd be in favor of a constitutional amendment granting one full member of the house to any territory or federal district with more than ~10k people. All individuals who are part of the United States deserve some say in the federal government.

[Virginiá]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

Why not make them a state like they actually want? All these "compromise" ideas are insulting to the people of DC.

Yes, thank you. As a former resident, it is an insult (though I don't take it personally from that user). If DC only gets 1 Senator, then Vermont and Wyoming should only get 1 Senator. After all, they have less people, so it makes no sense to shaft DC like that.

DC doesn't necessarily need to be given statehood (tho it's the easiest, most plausible option) but it should get full representation, just like any other state. That, and more control of its budget/own affairs. No more interference from Congress whenever DC does something that they don't agree with, but has little to do with the security or operation of the federal government (eg, marijuana legalization - people like Andy Harris (R) should not be able to file amendments to block DC initiatives when he simply has a different opinion of the issue)

[Heisenberg]

i really do not want the Senate to expand past 100 members. Even if new Republican states were added. I like the 100-member Senate. Great number.

[Blackacre]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

Why not make them a state like they actually want? All these "compromise" ideas are insulting to the people of DC.

Yes, thank you. As a former resident, it is an insult (though I don't take it personally from that user).

Sorry bud. I clarified in a post above but I'll say again that I'd really like to see the people of DC have statehood.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

...I hate to be that guy, but I unironicaly agree with this statement. The Senate should be proportional to some degree, and Wyoming and Vermont have no business having the same representation in the Senate as states like Texas or California with orders of magnitude more people

[Figueira]

At the very least, DC should get a rep with full voting rights. I'd also either give them one Senator or have their votes count towards the Senatorial election in either Maryland or Virginia.

Why not make them a state like they actually want? All these "compromise" ideas are insulting to the people of DC.

Yes, thank you. As a former resident, it is an insult (though I don't take it personally from that user).

Sorry bud. I clarified in a post above but I'll say again that I'd really like to see the people of DC have statehood.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

...I hate to be that guy, but I unironicaly agree with this statement. The Senate should be proportional to some degree, and Wyoming and Vermont have no business having the same representation in the Senate as states like Texas or California with orders of magnitude more people

I agree, but that's a lot harder to get passed than DC statehood.

[Del Tachi]

These rules could be changed by the House.

Why didn't Democrats restore voting rights for the D.C. representative between 2007 and 2011?

[The Arizonan]

None of the territories pay federal taxes, have a large degree of autonomy, and have a different relationship with the US government than DC or the states. So no.

Translation: None of the territories are predominantly white. So no.

What makes you so sure? How do you know that he doesn't want them to get congresspersons because they lean Democratic?

[DavidB.]

Let's not (not a Democrat).

[BuckeyeNut]

Puerto Rico is about the size of Connecticut. It is deserving of about 4 Congressman.

While all the other territories do have more than the 20,000 necessary citizens to start the statehood process, they're far too small by modern standards, and lumping Guam, American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands together makes no sense.

[Virginiá]

These rules could be changed by the House.

Why didn't Democrats restore voting rights for the D.C. representative between 2007 and 2011?

Statehood could be granted by Congress (both chambers, not just the House) by passing a bill and following the normal procedure. DC could be reduced to the hill/critical federal buildings only and the rest made a state.

I don't know why they didn't at least make DC a state. Pure partisan politics would suggest it's a no-brainer, and if DC voted 85%+ Republican, then I bet the GOP would have made it a state a long time ago. Democrats are just stupid like this and it's incredibly frustrating.

Whenever Democrats get a federal trifecta again, I imagine DC statehood will probably be considered, but Puerto Rico is trickier. The island has a lot of problems, and that may make lawmakers hesitant to move on that. Republicans will fight DC/PR statehood with everything they have, so Puerto Rico statehood may not look so good to the public given the current status of things there.

[Green Line]

If DC was intended to be a state, they would have never created in the first place.  There's something to be said for having the federal capitol seperate from the states.

[BuckeyeNut]

If DC was intended to be a state, they would have never created in the first place.  There's something to be said for having the federal capitol seperate from the states.

True. But DC was also never meant to be home to over a million people.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Puerto Rico is about the size of Connecticut. It is deserving of about 4 Congressman.

While all the other territories do have more than the 20,000 necessary citizens to start the statehood process, they're far too small by modern standards, and lumping Guam, American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands together makes no sense.

Obviously American Samoa does not fit in, given they share neither cultural history or geograohic proxemity, but there is no real reason the Mariana Islands cannot be united. The only reason they are partitioned at the moment is a weird colonial thing that happened at the end of the Spanish American War. In fact, there was an expectation that they would reunify after WW2, but there was some resentment between Guam residents towards the NMI for supposed collabaration with the Japanese.

As for the population, a reunified Marianas would be fairly small (although not by historical standards of course), but  if you count there are lot of Mariana Islanders working on the mainland and Hawaii, as well as the fact statehood normally brings in an influx of population and investment, I see no reason they couldn't be brought in as a state. Be a big move in establishing a permanent Pacific presence as well in regards to foreign policy.

[Del Tachi]

If DC was intended to be a state, they would have never created in the first place.  There's something to be said for having the federal capitol seperate from the states.

True. But DC was also never meant to be home to over a million people.

It's not.  lol.

[Blackacre]

If DC was intended to be a state, they would have never created in the first place.  There's something to be said for having the federal capitol seperate from the states.

True. But DC was also never meant to be home to over a million people.

It's not.  lol.

658,000. Which, while not 7 digits, is still more than 2 states.

[IceAgeComing]

These rules could be changed by the House.

Why didn't Democrats restore voting rights for the D.C. representative between 2007 and 2011?

They did - at least they did for votes in the Committee of the Whole House which most legislative work is actually done in the House of Representatives other than formal final passage because of reasons; they aren't allowed to give the DC delegate voting rights for votes in the actual House without granting DC statehood or amending the constitution to give them voting rights in the House.  Besides; the idea that the voting rights of a representative representing a large amount of people should be allowed to change based on what party is in the majority in the House of Representatives is bad; which is a big reason why DC statehood should be granted.

[BuckeyeNut]

If DC was intended to be a state, they would have never created in the first place.  There's something to be said for having the federal capitol seperate from the states.

True. But DC was also never meant to be home to over a million people.

It's not.  lol.

I guess I was thinking of the metro population (+6 mil.). The point stands, though. DC was never meant to house more than a few thousand people, tops, and as Zombie Spenstar said, DC is still more populous than two states.