Ehrlich on Washington column, March 9, 1997

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of March 9, 1997 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. GIVING DC TO MARYLAND: A BAD IDEA RETURNS In 1995, 1 organized a Maryland GOP congressional delegation petition to House Speaker Newt Gingrich in which we expressed strong opposition to his plan to make the District of Columbia Maryland’s Ninth Congressional District. My colleagues and I called the plan “a very bad idea” which would “violate history as well as Maryland’s political integrity.” After receiving our letter, Speaker Gingrich backed away (at least publicly) from this ill- conceived proposal. Unfortunately, an Ohio member of Congress is now shopping around an equally unwise plan which, if implemented, would also have grave consequences for the state of Maryland. Congressman Ralph Regula (R-OH) has reintroduced a bill to “retrocede” to Maryland territory the state gave to the federal government in 1791 to create the nation’s capital. With the exception of a small “federal enclave” consisting of federal buildings and monuments, most of the District of Columbia would be returned to the State of Maryland lock, stock, and barrel. As you might expect, my state Republican House colleagues and I are vehemently opposed to the Regula bill. Our objections to this ill-conceived proposal are twofold. First, it raises serious legal and constitutional issues. Article I, Section 17 of the U. S. Constitution gives the states the authority to voluntarily cede land to the federal government for the purpose of creating a national capital. However, it does not give the federal government authority to compel states to take this land back. The only historical precedent for retrocession dates to 1846, when the state of Virginia reclaimed