US Mint Rejects Quarter Featuring Voting Rights Message

WASHINGTON - The U.S. mint rejected designs for a commemorative District of Columbia quarter on Wednesday because they include the words "Taxation Without Representation."

Just days after the D.C. government submitted three design proposals, the U.S. Mint said in a statement that it was not taking a position on the issue of the district's lack of voting rights in Congress, but that "the proposed inscription is clearly controversial and, therefore, inappropriate."

It added that "changing how the District of Columbia (the Seat of Government of the United States) is represented in Congress is a contemporary political issue on which there presently is no national consensus and over which reasonable minds differ."

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said in a statement that his administration was asked to submit ideas emblematic of the district and that he "can think of nothing more unique and characteristic than our status as the only American citizens without full voting rights in Congress."

He said his administration respectfully disagrees with the Mint's decision, but will offer an "alternative inscription that best represents the city."

The D.C. government submitted the designs Monday in hopes that the coins would help educate the public about the issue. The designs depict the "stars and bars" of the D.C. flag, astronomer and mathematician Benjamin Banneker, and musician Duke Ellington.

D.C. is being included in the popular state quarter program after 10 years of lobbying. The coins showcase home-state icons such as mountains, animals and the Wright Brothers airplane.

The district already has used its license plates, which read "Taxation Without Representation," to draw attention to its lack of voting rights.

On Wednesday, the Mint said it looks forward to working with D.C. officials on new designs. The new coin is set to debut in 2009.

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http://www.examiner.com/a-1245935~US_Mint_rejects_quarter_fe aturing_voting_rights_message.html

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