District of Columbia Democrats
by Agnieszka Dmochowska

The District of Columbia is a federal district, which is coextensive to the city of Washington, D.C. It was established by congressional acts of 1790 and 1791. In June 1800 President John Adams moved the government to Washington, D.C. The first congressional meeting was held there in November. The District of Columbia has a population of 606,900 people on its 70 square mile land. Until 1961 residents of the District of Columbia were excluded from voting. However, the twenty-third amendment to the Constitution allowed them to vote in presidential elections. In addition to that, in 1970 the District was given the right to send nonvoting delegate to Congress. Now the delegate is Eleanor Holmes Norton.  In 1978 Congress passed a constitutional amendment which gave the District of Columbia full representation in Congress. However, not enough states ratified it and a District reminded a district. Since then politicians and District officials are working on making the District of Columbia a state but so far without any success. District of Columbia government operates under mayor and city council but the legislation is still under the provision of Congress (Encyclopedia).  The “State Committee” governs the District of Columbia Democratic Party. The “State Committee” consists of forty-eight members who are elected at the Democratic Party primary held in each presidential election year and twenty-two additional members.            The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee has a very similar platform to the National Democratic Party: “… we believe all Americans have a right to fair political representation—including the citizens of the District of Columbia who deserve full self-governance, political representation and Statehood” (D.C. Bulletin). Their main goal is to obtain full representation in Congress and Statehood. They demand to manage their affairs by themselves and not to be “pushed around” by the Congress. As American Last Colony they want to finally gain their independence once and for all.   When it comes to taxation and fiscal responsibility Democratic Party in D.C. agrees with fiscal reform but without increase in taxes. They hope for the surplus this year under Clinton/Gore administration. Even though the District is not a state, it provides public services as every other state (health and welfare, Medicaid, traffic control, police and fire protection). Because of congressionally imposed taxing restrictions, the District loses in tax revenue millions every year. Legislation says that “two out of three dollars earned in the city” goes to those who are not citizens of the district. That is why the District of Columbia demands more money from the federal government in order to function properly (D.C. Bulletin).  The Democratic Party of D.C. supports governmental reforms. They want to restore the strong Mayor-Council form of government and expanding the responsibilities of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.   The Democratic Party is also agreeing with continuation of the primary system in the District of Columbia and in different states as well.             Education is especially important issue to the Democratic Party in D.C. They do not agree with the status quo in public education and that is why they demand changes. The Democrats see the Board of Education, teachers, student representatives, parents and volunteer citizens as the way to solve the problems with public education in our country. They want  Congress to stop “its instruction in school management”. In addition to that Democrats want to provide more fundings to libraries and schools. They also oppose the national standards in education, which are dictated by testing  (D.C. Bulletin).  The Democratic Party in D.C. is especially concern with the crime in our country. They believe that one of the main tasks of the government should be to provide the general public safety.  They expect the federal government to be tougher on those who commit crimes. In addition to that, they support the reestablishment of Civilian Complain Review Board. They believe that by taking care of substance abuse, joblessness, violence and social inequality, the government would solve many of its problems (D.C. Bulletin).           When it comes to health care, the Democratic Party agrees that everyone should be able to have access to affordable health care, either public or private. They support increase of Medicare and health programs in public schools that would prevent AIDS, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse (D.C. Bulletin).  The Democratic Party from the District of Columbia also supports rent control laws and reestablishment of the Rent Administrator (D.C. Bulletin).           The D.C. Democratic Party opposes the death penalty under any circumstances. On the issue of abortion, they agree with pro-choice for women. They also want more funding for the HIV research (D.C. Bulettin).  The Democratic Party also supports public transportation. They want federal government to spend more money on maintaining roads, streets and bridges.           The Democratic Party in District of Columbia wants tougher environmental laws that would involve strict zoning regulations, which would prevent businesses from trash dumping, air pollution and garbage storage within their neighborhoods. They also want politicians to pay more attention to the quality and maintenance of waterways and clean air.  The Democratic Party in the District of Columbia takes the stand of the National Democratic Party on the foreign policy and defense issues in the United States. They want U.S. to continue to be a world leader when in comes to military, diplomatic and humanitarian agenda. They want to focus military’s attention on the war against global terrorism, narcotics and crime. To make that possible Democrats want to straighten the military and stop cuts to US intelligence programs (D.C. Bulletin).           Democrats support legal immigration to the United States and want to easier the system to make obtaining a citizenship a faster process. However, they oppose illegal immigration and want to stop it by making the legislation tougher on the illegal immigrants who come here to work (D.C. Bulletin).           For the next millennium, the Democratic Party in District of Columbia wishes to finally obtain its statehood and full representation in Congress. They also hope that the next president would also be Democrat. But nobody knows yet if their wishes will come true.