D.C. Residents Hold Voting Rights Tea Party

On the 243rd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, citizens of the District of Columbia recreated the American Colonists' protest against taxation without representation. If anybody has a right to recreate that historic act of public protest, it is the still non-represented taxpayers of the District of Columbia.

According to the DCist, about 80 protestors braved chilly winds whipping across the Potomac to dump boxes filled with voting rights teabags into the river.

Like other Americans, citizens of the District of Columbia vote, pay income tax and follow federal laws, but are represented in the U.S. Congress by a lone individual who is denied the right to vote on legislation. Officially classified and treated as a "federal district," rather than a state, the District of Columbia is represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting "delegate." The District of Columbia is not represented at all in the Senate.

In June 2007, the House passed a bill granting full voting rights to the District of Columbia delegate. The bill, H.R. 1905, is currently being considered by the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees.

Also See:
The D.C. Citizens' Lament
Voting Rights in Washington, DC (Civil Liberties)
Was the Boston Tea Party an Act of Terrorism? (Terrorism)