Under the heading ”Buy him a state,” a letter from Gerald F. Cooper Jr. pointed out the reasons behind and the absurdity of Jesse Jackson`s effort to establish the District of Columbia as America`s 51st state. We`re discussing a city with an area of roughly 70 square miles and a population of about 800,000.
In media comments on the matter that have appeared from time to time, I`ve not seen any that suggest the proposal is controlled by Article I, Section VIII, para. 17 of the U.S. Constitution. This established the district as the seat of our national government and gave the Congress exclusive legislative authority over it.
It seems that, unlike the process by which most existing states were admitted to the union, the admission of Washington, D.C., as a state would require a constitutional amendment approved by three-fourths of the states. I don`t believe this would be forthcoming.
Recall that the governor of Maryland offered to re-incorporate the District into his state and thus provide its citizens with the franchise now denied them to vote for congressional representation. Rev. Jackson paid a hurried visit to the governor and no more was heard from him on the matter. One wonders what transpired there.
