WASHINGTON - March 30, 2020 - Dorinda White, President of the DC Federation of Democratic Women, an affiliate of the DC Democratic Party, encouraged Federation members to lend their voices to the Party's statement (below) to urge the Congress to vote in support of equitable funds for District of Columbia residents in the Coronavirus Relief Fund Bill. District of Columbia stands to lose an estimated $750 million less than the states because we are being treated as a territory. We implore the Congress to resist partisan politics and ensure that the District is treated like tax-paying states and not like a non-tax paying territory. We insist that this injustice be corrected for the benefit of the health and safety of the 700,000 taxpaying citizens of the nation's capital. The Coronavirus know no jurisdictional boundaries; democracy knows no party lines. We urge you to consider the following:

The District of Columbia is NOT a territory. Our residents pay federal taxes - more than 22 states.

District of Columbia residents pay the highest per capita taxes to the federal government of all the states - over $5 Billion per year.

According to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, under the current fund each state is entitled to a minimum of $1.25 Billion while DC and the territories must split $3 Billion which is allocated based on population. With this formula, the District will receive an estimated $750 million less than the states because they are being treated as a non-tax paying territory.

With over 700,00 residents, the District has a larger population than Wyoming.

The District has a population comparable to three other states: Vermont (627,180); Alaska (735,720) and North Dakota (760,700).

Not only are District residents deprived of voting representation in Congress, our residents are once again being subjected to politically-motivated partisanship by members of Congress from other states while we have no voting representation.

The District is being penalized by a Republican-led Senate that apparently has no sense of responsibility to our largely-Democratic jurisdiction,

Only District residents are deprived of voting representation in Congress.

Because the District does not have voting representation, political leaders who value democracy have a responsibility to protect the rights of District residents who stand to be deprived of equitable funding in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

We are not just a city of monuments, the District of Columbia is home to over 700,000 living, breathing, tax-paying American citizens who suffer illness and pain in the same way as other citizens. We deserve equitable treatment now!

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Enid Doggett