Speaking of Representative Democracy

Democracy begins at home, and in many ways it begins at home right here in New Hampshire. I feel privileged to serve in the most representation legislative body in America. For every 3,000 or so people in New Hampshire, there is one of us state representatives. We have a unique relationship with our constituents because we are their neighbors. I have had constituents call me, naturally, to discuss important policy issues, but also to ask me to pick up a pair of earrings for them at the Statehouse gift shop.

New Hampshire is all about representative democracy. I think we are, here in our small corner of the country, democracy's most passionate supporters. Therefore, I believe we should expect the same level of commitment and passion for representative democracy from those elected officials who represent New Hampshire in Congress.

That's why I have sponsored N.H. House Resolution 26, which expresses regret for our two senators' decision not to support the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act. I regret that Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu, who have been so steadfast in their commitment to spreading democracy around the world through violent struggle and the loss of American soldiers, do not see the need to extend the right to representative democracy to our own citizens here at home. I regret that our two senators do not support U.S. Senate Bill 1257, which would grant the 600,000 citizens of the District of Columbia a member in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district's 600,000 person population is the size of Vermont, after all. Though denied representation in Congress, these Americans still pay taxes. Their license plate motto - taxation without representation - reflects what every American school child learns was the justification for dumping tea into Boston harbor on Dec. 16, 1773, and a catalyst for our war of independence.

The residents of the District of Columbia also fight our wars today to further the right to democratic representation around the world. Five American soldiers from the district, denied the right themselves to be represented in Congress, found this ideal so compelling they were willing to die fighting in order that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan might freely elect their own governments. This would be ironic if it weren't so sad.

Opponents of Senate Bill 1257 claim it is unconstitutional. Yet legal scholars disagree, pointing out that when the Constitution was written in 1787, Washington was not our capital. They conclude that the framers of the constitution plainly did not intend to deprive citizens of our nation's capital of the most basic right to vote. These scholars maintain that Congress has the power to legislate representation in the District of Columbia and that the framers left it to Congress to provide voting representation for citizens of the capital once it was created.

Senate Bill 1257 represents the district's best chance to gain a representative in Congress; yet it has fallen several votes short of the number needed to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote on passage. Among those senators who have not voted for the representational rights of the district's citizens are Gregg and Sununu.

Here in New Hampshire, we see all around us during this primary season the wonders of democracy's most precious right - the right to vote. This is a right that must be extended to all Americans, and I regret that our two senators have not stood up for the rights of the American citizens who live in the District of Columbia. As New Hampshire once again takes center stage in the world's most successful democracy, I urge Gregg and Sununu to stand up and support the right for all American citizens to be represented, no matter where they live.

N.H. Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, is a Nashua Democrat.

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