OPINION:
In the editorial “A 51st-state fantasy” (Web, Sept. 11), The Washington Times’ editors conclude that “Statehood for the District of Columbia is an idea whose time has not come, and never will.” However, as I campaign around Washington, I am finding universal support for H.R. 2680, the “No Taxation Without Representation Act,” a bill introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas Republican, to exempt Washington residents from federal income taxation.
Mr. Gohmert’s bill recognizes that D.C. residents have a fundamental legitimate grievance: They are the only American citizens taxed without their consent. The bill states that since D.C. residents are not represented by voting members of Congress, they should be treated like the residents of Puerto Rico and the territories, which are exempt from federal income taxation because they are not represented by voting members of Congress. This long-standing policy of Congress to exempt people who are not represented by voting members from federal income taxation should be extended to residents of the District, and hearings on the subject should be conducted by the House Ways and Means Committee.
In 2001, D.C. congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill similar to HR 2680, but now declines to support the Gohmert bill.
On Nov. 23, 1993, The Washington Times editorial board got it right when it concluded: “A far more engaging proposition than taking on the headaches of being a state would be to press for abolition of federal taxes for residents of the District.” The Washington Times should support my campaign’s call for a referendum on the “No Taxation Without Representation Act.”
NELSON F. RIMENSNYDER
Republican candidate for D.C. Delegate, U. S. House of Representatives
Washington
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