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	D.C. has little to celebrate Sept. 17 (Published August 22, 2005) By BILL MOSLEY

Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who styles himself the guardian of the U.S. Constitution, recently pushed legislation through Congress mandating that on this year's Constitution Day – Sept. 17 – students and federal employees across the United States receive a tutorial on our nation's founding document. Constitution Day, the anniversary of the Constitution's signing in 1787, usually comes and goes with little recognition, a failing Byrd was determined to correct. (The selection of those to receive the lectures was born of convenience: The government can give orders to high school and college students because their institutions receive federal funds, and it can do the same to federal employees because, well, they're federal employees).

I don't know how deep the lessons about the history and impact of the Constitution will go. But it would be instructive for all to spend a little time examining Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, which states that Congress has power "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States."

The effect of this language was the creation of the District of Columbia as the seat of government, with land ceded by Maryland and Virginia (the Virginia portion was later returned to the state).

The establishment of a separate federal district, neither a state nor part of a state, resulted in a jurisdiction whose citizens lacked, and still lack, fundamental democratic rights – such as voting representation in Congress and the entire range of "states' rights" that include control over local laws, budgets, courts and prosecutors. This unique state of federal overlordship enables Congress to force outrageous and locally unpopular measures on the local populace, such as school vouchers, a ban on needle-exchange programs to prevent HIV/AIDS, and proposed legislation to overturn D.C. gun laws. (Fortunately, the attempt by Rep. Henry Bonilla of Texas to rename 16th Street NW for Ronald Reagan seems to be going nowhere, but the episode illustrates the powerlessness of the District to block even the most petty abuse of congressional power at our expense).

How did such a one-sided and undemocratic relationship between the federal government and the capital city come about? To understand this -- see, Sen. Byrd? We're learning something! -- we must turn to the record of the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Fresh in the minds of many delegates was an incident in 1783 in which a group of armed Continental soldiers surrounded the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia – where Congress was meeting – and demanded back pay for service during the Revolutionary War. Although the soldiers soon dispersed peacefully, advocates of a strong central government, especially future Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, "manipulated the event for their own purposes," according to historian and D.C. democracy activist Mark David Richards. Research by historian Kenneth Bowling has shown that Hamilton even may have known in advance about the soldiers' plans and used this knowledge to provoke a confrontation. While Hamilton and other Federalists sowed fear about future mobs threatening Congress and argued for complete federal control over the capital city so that the federal government wouldn't have to depend upon a state militia for security, their real motive was to enhance the power of the federal government that they planned to lead. And, thus, Clause 17 was born.

And so it continues today. While members of Congress spew rhetoric about the nation's capital belonging to all the people – or find fault with the District's governance or fiscal standing – as reason to keep the District under the federal heel, their words, as did Hamilton's, mask a hidden agenda: to maintain their own power as lords and masters of the 570,000 citizens of the federal plantation. While the Constitution is revered for establishing the principles that govern our country, the original document contained a number of faults – such as sanctioning slavery and failing to guarantee women the right to vote – that were subsequently corrected. Clause 17 is one constitutional flaw that still haunts us.

When Sept. 17 comes around, will school kids in Arkansas and farm bureau agents in Nebraska learn about this chapter in the history of our Constitution? As intriguing and instructive as it would be, I'm guessing not. That's too bad, because while all Americans should know how a bill becomes a law, they also should learn how certain U.S. citizens fought to free themselves from British rule only to become colonial subjects of their own country's government.

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Mosley is a member of the Stand Up! For Democracy in D.C. Coalition. Contact him at billmosley@comcast.net.

Copyright 2005 The Common Denominator