McHenry supports taxation without representation

Tenth district Representative Pat McHenry calls DC voting rights "padding the House for the democrats," even though the current bill gives Republicans a seat in Utah. Of course, that's assuming the people of DC and Utah elect a dem and a 'pub, respectively..

Clearly going to bat to defend the undefensible McHenry has been quoted repeatedly including this CD Examiner article, House passes District voting rights bill

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to give the District of Columbia its first full vote in Congress in more than two centuries, a critical but early step in a difficult journey to make the bill a law.

Three days after thousands of D.C. residents marched on the U.S. Capitol to demand representation, House members voted for the D.C. Voting Rights Act 241-177, sending the bill to an uncertain fate in the Senate. The legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., would expand the 435-member House by two seats, one for the heavily Democratic District and the other for Republican-stronghold Utah.

Norton, a tireless supporter who stands to become the city’s first voting representative in 206 years, called the bill a “labor of love.” Mayor Adrian Fenty described the vote as “a statement of our country’s principles, values and morals.”

“Today the House of Representatives said you’re a part of this country 100 percent,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said during a post-vote press conference.

The measure’s critics argue it flouts the Constitution, which explicitly provides representation only to residents of “the several states.” If the District wants a vote, they say, it should do so through a constitutional amendment or by ceding to Maryland.

“I would submit the new Democratic majority is trying to pad their numbers here on the House floor,” Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said.

I guess he forgot that our forefathers, including on Patrick Henry, fought and died so that people not be taxed and unrepresented. I wonder what he'd say if the voters of DC tended to vote Republican.