Submitted to and Passed at the 96th AEU Assembly

Whereas, according to the Declaration of Independence, to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, among others, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and

Whereas, the citizens of Washington, D.C., are denied the rights accorded to the citizens of the States, including the right to elect voting representatives to the Congress of the United States, the right to determine their own budget for the allocation of local DC taxes, the right to put duly enacted local laws into effect without Congressional review and considerable delay, and the right to be free of special laws, enacted by a Congress where they have no vote and which apply only to the District and not to the rest of the country; and

Whereas, the Constitution provides a maximum size for the District that is the seat of the Government of the United States but not a minimum, so that the Federal enclave could be separated from the inhabited part of the current District; and

Whereas, if the inhabited part of the current District were a State, none of this type of interference in local affairs would be permitted; and

Whereas, it is only with the help of the actions of people living outside of the District of Columbia that pressure can be put on Congress to vote to establish full self-government for the District of Columbia in accordance with a constitution based on the wishes of the District citizens;

Therefore, Be It Resolved that the American Ethical Union supports admission of the State of New Columbia, which shall be a State of the United States of America, and shall be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects whatever, and urges Ethical Culturists nationwide to impress upon their Congressional Representative and Senators their concern regarding this issue.