Or is it that Congress can't see the trees for the forest? You gave us taxation. Now give us representation. Very truly yours, ORREN T. COHILL, President. LOVEJOY PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION, Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, Chairman, House District Committee, MR. CHAIRMAN: I am Mrs. Margaret P. Courtney, president of the Lovejoy Parent-Teachers and Community Association. The Lovejoy Parent-Teachers and Community Association go on record as supporting the principle of home rule in the District of Columbia. We believe the time has come for the Capital City of our wonderful country to take undisputed possession of a completely first-class rating which will be accomplished only by having local self-government. For the best interests and results for our highly developed and rapidly expanding Nation, we support the resolution calling for the end of Federal control of Washington's municipal government. Cities of relatively proportionate size and population as that of the District throughout these United States have long enjoyed their rightful constitutional privileges as citizens by having a voice in their local and municipal governments. These citizens have proven loyal, trustworthy, dedicated, democratic, devoted Americans. Because these people work and live together they know best their problems, shortcomings, assets, desires, and probabilities better than "outsiders" or other groups who have been put in authority, and whose interests are divided. We believe all of our country's citizens have the right to exercise their will in selecting, electing, and voting for their officials, as well as being represented nationally. We deplore the principle of taxation without representation. It is tyranny of the first magnitude. We are thorough believers in the democratic system and the democratic way of doing things. Home rule for the District is right because it is the democratic way to govern citizens who work and live harmoniously and prosperously together. It is under this type of system that our country's future leadership develops most effectively. For unity gives us strength, but division among our ranks tends to weaken us. We hope heartily, therefore, that the House District Committee and the Congress of the United States will support our resolution for home rule in the District. With the help of Congress and the divine guidance of the Almighty God we sincerely believe that the Federal Government will discontinue to hold this city in thrall, and will permit its citizens to govern their affairs in their own way as they see fit. Thank you. MARGARET P. COURTNEY. STATEMENT OF VALERIE K. WIGGINS, PRESIDENT OF THE BENNING PTA, AN ORGANIZATION OF 400 MEMBERS The citizens of the Benning Parent-Teachers Association wish to support the principle of home rule for the District of Columbia. It is far from democratic to be denied this fundamental constitutional right. We are disheartened every time Congress slashes the school budget, for we know best how to spend our money for our children's education. For our children's sake, we urge that these hearings produce a bill that will be passed giving the 850,000 District residents the right to vote and the opportunity for self-government. Thank you for this opportunity to speak for my organization. STATEMENT OF MR. MAURICE JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE DAVIS PTA, AN ORGANIZATION OF 750 MEMBERS We are in favor of home rule for the benefit of our children, schools, and citizens in general. Thank you for this opportunity to speak for my organization. HOUSE DISTRICT COMMITTEE, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.: WASHINGTON, D.C., July 26, 1959. The Langdon PTA wishes to support local self-government for home rule. Mrs. YVONNE WILLIAMSON, Secretary. STATEMENT OF YVONNE M. WILLIAMSON, PRESIDENT OF THE LANGDON SCHOOL PTA, AN ORGANIZATION OF 323 MEMBERS The Langdon School PTA wishes to go on record in support of local selfgovernment. Thank you for this opportunity to speak for my organization. WHEATLEY PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION, WHEATLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Subject: Home rule for the District of Columbia. Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, Chairman, House District Committee, HONORABLE SIR: As president of the Wheatley Parent-Teacher Association, representing approximately 750 parents, I wish to apprise you of our strong desire for the securing of home rule for the District of Columbia. There are many reasons why we should be able to enjoy this cherished privilege, but great'est among them are set forth in the paragraphs below. 1. Having been denied our inalienable rights for more than three-quarters of a century, we, as parents, would be derelict of duty if we, at this time, failed to press for the rights and privileges of our children who inevitably will become our leaders of tomorrow. 2. Under the present system of government we are called upon to support it in a most tangible way-through taxes, direct and indirect. We have no choice to do otherwise. By the same token we have no chance to cast a vote for our choice of officeholders who direct the spending of these taxes. 3. Parents in the District are fully aware of the fact that lawmakers from the various States who are not confronted with problems peculiar to those of the District cannot have sufficient knowledge, nor appreciation for, nor even the interest in helping to secure the vital needs for our ever-expanding educational processes. 4. We look with envy toward far away Alaska and distant Hawaii who so recently secured all the rights and privileges of statehood. It would seem that we, here in the District of Columbia, living under the dome of the greatest Capitol in the world today-it would seem that we too should enjoy self-government. We emphatically implore you and your colleagues to act on the rule supporting a territorial governor to be appointed by the President, an elected legislative assembly and a nonvoting delegate to the House. May we take this opportunity to thank you for privilege of being heard. ALMA D. PORTER, President. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C., July 27, 1959. GENTLEMEN: The parents and teachers who comprise the membership of the Neval Thomas Parent-Teacher Association have, over the past several years, fully supported the enactment of legislation which would bring some measure of self-government to the citizens of the District of Columbia. In view of the favorable response now being shown toward the various bills pending in the House of Representatives, and the treatment recently accorded the States of Alaska and Hawaii, we sincerely trust that this year will mark the passage of a home rule bill for the District. We wish to go on record as favoring the proposals now before your committee and pledge our wholehearted support toward the success of whatever legislation as may be passed and approved. Very truly yours, NEVAL THOMAS SCHOOL PARENT- By WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, President. D. A. PAYNE PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION, Subject: Statement on home rule for the District of Columbia. Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, Chairman, House District Committee, DEAR MR. MCMILLAN AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE DISTRICT COMMITTEE: AS one of the local units that constitutes the D.C. Congress of Parents and Teachers, members of the Payne Parent-Teacher Association have been among many delegations to Capitol Hill to plead for the school needs of the District, and we have received wholehearted support from some of the Members of Congress on legislation that involves the welfare of children. Legislation that would give the citizens of the District of Columbia a right to self-government is long overdue and is a heritage which should be passed on to the future citizens of the District as well as to other children of the Nation. Some of the citizens who live here have come of their own choice while others have come upon being accepted in the Government service. While it is possible for many to vote by absentee ballot, and convenient for others to maintain voting residence in their home States, a great number of Washington residents have lost this right by coming here to live or perhaps cannot remember ever having a vote in the District. Regardless of how we came to be here in this historical "clearinghouse," many of us who are rendering loyal and devoted service to the "powers that be" can no longer keep silent on this vital issue. We deplore the idea that some may think of us as "dead souls." Our pride in that which our forefathers gave their sweat and blood, and the deep sense of duty we have to the citizens of tomorrow make us restless and unwilling to continue to accept a nonvoting status. Our concern for the future of this country and the status it affords every citizen regardless of his race or creed makes us feel, in spite of the opposition, that we have met on common ground. We feel that, to a great degree, the defense of this country rests not only on achievements in space, power on the seas or in the air, but also in the hearts of all its citizens and the recognition of and respect for human dignity. We are especially grateful for the privilege to speak on this question which has met with so much opposition, and we take this opportunity to make you aware of a burning desire permeating our society to make our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence a living reality. To deny any segment of the population a constitutional right is to psychologically handicap the individuals involves, thus creating a handicap for the community and for the country. An awareness of our freedoms and the need to preserve them is more evident among our citizens than ever before. Can citizens who have never fully enjoyed these freedoms be expected to willingly die to defend them? Regardless of our race, creed, religious background, or station in life, we have dignity. To disregard this part of an individual, particularly one who has identified himself with the principles upon which our great Nation was founded, is detrimental to a way of life that we hold most sacred. How long must we endure this suppression? How long must we continue to explain to our children why the taxpaying citizens in the District of Columbia cannot vote? We feel that the children in the Nation's Capital should have the best possible concept of a democracy. Shall we then deny them any basic right, while we say to them: "It is your heritage"? We believe that home rule would provide a better means of handling many of the problems of the District of Columbia, particularly our school needs. We are grateful for the service rendered to our community by Representatives from other States and deeply appreciate the interest shown by those who are supporting home rule. But we feel that the Congress should be relieved of the burdensome details of running the affairs of the District, that they may be run by the people, for the people of the District. The parent-teacher associations and other civic groups are doing a tremendous job of erasing apathy and complacency, replacing them with informed citizens who are aware of their needs and their civic responsibility in helping to resolve them; thereby, providing for the Nation's Capital citizens who not only demand the right to govern themselves, but who demonstrate the ability to do it and have the intelligence to know that taxation without representation is not democratic. We thank you for this opportunity. Mrs. EARLEN S. GROGAN, President. WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM, Hon. J. C. DAVIS, Chairman, House District Subcommittee, DEAR SIR: The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was founded in 1915 at The Hague by Jane Addams, at that time head of Hull House in Chicago, and a group of internationally minded women. The U.S. section is an international and interracial organization whose aim is to establish by democratic methods those political, economic, and psychological conditions which will assure that inherent rights of man and bring peace among them. It strongly advocates a domestic program based on fundamental freedoms and the civil rights of all individuals. It feels that democracy can be strengthened only by raising the standards of health, education, housing, and general living conditions for everyone. For that reason, the league believes that the disfranchisement of the people of the District of Columbia is a denial of the basic democratic principles which conceived the birth of this country and provided the inspiration for its preservation in times of stress. The league believes also that government of the District by its citizens would mean an improvement in their health, education, and general welfare. It would relieve those Members of Congress on the District Committees of hundreds of extra man-hours of work, releasing them, their energy and thought for the normally heavy responsibility that national legislators must carry during these times of crises in both our foreign and domestic relations. More basically important, however, is the fact that its realization would signify the right of the people of the Nation's Capital to prove their capacity-as their predecessors did until 1870-for self-government. We of the league dare to say that given such a challenge, District citizens would work more steadfastly to solve the serious housing, health, and cultural problems of which they are so keenly aware. The District area branch of the league, supported by the national organization and its branches in practically each State, therefore, urges you to bring out a home-rule bill, your own H.R. 4630, and give Congress a chance to vote on it. Though this bill has limitations that we wish were not a part of its provisions, we still feel that it would be a progressive step and furnish a flexible framework for future changes. It will, moreover, serve as a testament from the House of Representatives of its faith in the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. Respectfully submitted, Miss BERTHA C. MCNEILL, President. STATEMENT OF THE MOUNT PLEASANT NEIGHBORS' ASSOCIATION This statement is submitted by the Mount Pleasant Neighbors' Association, a civic group representing the citizens of Mount Pleasant, a residential area in northwest Washington, bounded on the south by Harvard Street, on the east by 16th Street, and on the west and north by Rock Creek Park. We welcome the opportunity to present our views on home rule. We urge that this issue be brought to the floor of the House as quickly as possible, so that it can be decided in the present session. In 1874, home rule was suspended temporarily in the District of Columbia. In the 85 years since then many Washingtonians have lived out their lives without knowing the sweet taste of freedom which comes from having and exercising the right to vote, although many have fought on foreign soil to guarantee that right to others. The District of Columbia is faced with all the problems of urban life which have become so pressing in recent years, and in the solution of which we surely have the right to a voice. Among these problems, to mention only a few, are mass transportation, blighted areas, urban renewal and rehabilitation, crime, overcrowded schools, and recreation facilities. It is unfair to expect the Congress to attend to the administrative handling of these problems, and it is unfair to deprive us, the citizens of this city, of a say in their solution. There is a bitter irony in the fact that a Nation dedicated to the triumph of democracy throughout the world should deprive the citizens of its own Capital City of the right to self-government. We have less say in the management of our affairs than the Seminoles. The saying, "No taxation without representation," still stands as a profound truth of democracy, and it should be as true for the citizens of this city as for any people in the world. We, too, would claim the constitutional right to a "republican form of government.” The Mount Pleasant Neighbors' Association urges that we be granted the right to elect a mayor and a council, so that we can most effectively manage our own civic affairs. We do not feel that we should be regarded as wards of the Federal Government, or as a yet undeveloped area. We feel, instead, that we should be entrusted with the same kind of control over our affairs as are the citizens of other major cities. We realize, of course, that this city has a unique relationship to the Federal Government, but we do not anticipate any greater difficulties arising from this fact than are experienced by other cities with large Federal installations, such as Oak Ridge, Tenn., or Denver, Colo., or by the 50 cities which are presently State capitals. As a second choice, if need be, we would accept territorial status, with an appointed governor, as a recognized first step to a fully elected government. A full voice in the management of our local affairs is our first priority. As a distinct and separate issue, we also hope that the necessary steps will be taken toward a constitutional amendment permitting us our right to a voice in national affairs. Local self-rule and national representation are not mutually exclusive goals, and should not be confused as alternatives. We recognize that the true "voice of the people" is hard to determine. Whether the people of Washington truly want self-rule can be ascertained by referendum. The Mount Pleasant Neighbors' Association is confident that the response will be overwhelmingly in favor of home rule. Once again we urge your prompt action in voting out a home rule bill for the citizens of the District of Columbia, who have wainted so long and so patiently for first class citizenship. STATEMENT OF AVIS G. CARTER, PRESIDENT OF THE WOODRIDGE PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION The Woodridge Parent-Teacher Association, an organization of 550 members, wants home rule. District residents want a change from taxation without representation. We that live in the District are entitled to promote and effect legislation for our own welfare. Woodridge is proud to join our fellow residents in the plea, "Home rule for the District of Columbia." Thank you for this opportunity to speak for my organization. |