To the editor:
Our country is based on no taxation without representation. As a taxpayer, I value having elected representatives and senators from Minnesota actively involved in deciding the laws that govern me. Citizens living in the District of Columbia are denied this right. They have the same responsibilities I do to pay federal taxes, serve on juries, and follow the laws. But because the District of Columbia is not a state, the over 700,000 U.S. citizens who live there do not have the right to elect their own members of Congress. They are without a voice in the House and the Senate. This is wrong.
The Washington, D.C. Admissions Act, HR 51, will correct this by establishing the District of Columbia as a state, with the same representation we enjoy here in Minnesota. I urge all of our U.S. representatives, especially my representative Michelle Fischbach, to support this bill and give D.C. the equal status it deserves. It is the right thing to do.
Dani Clausen
Farwell, MN
