WASHINGTON D.C. AND TERRITORIES GET THEIR "STATE" QUARTERS Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 52, December 23, 2007, Article 18
WASHINGTON D.C. AND TERRITORIES GET THEIR "STATE" QUARTERS
[Assuming the President signs the massive spending bill
into law, the "%0 States" Quarter program will be extended
after all. The following excerpts are from a Washington
Post article published this week. -Editor]The District has no vote in Congress, its laws can be trampled
by federal legislators and even its streets can be closed by
the feds on a moment's notice.But after nearly 10 years of fighting, the city finally won
a new mark of respect this week.It will have its very own quarter.
The measure, tucked into a giant federal spending bill, puts
the District on the same level as the 50 states, at least
when it comes to the popular coins showcasing home-state
icons such as mountains, birds, race cars and fiddles. The
D.C. quarter is due in 2009, with a design yet to be determined.'Can you believe it? How many years have I tried to get that?'
exulted the city's congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes
Norton (D), who has repeatedly introduced bills to get the
District a place on the quarter's flip side.Despite Norton's vigorous lobbying and arm-twisting, it
was not the District's quest for equality that ultimately
carried the day.It was Puerto Rico's.
Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) inserted language into the
spending bill to provide quarters for his native Puerto Rico,
as well as the District, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.Serrano became chairman this year of the House Appropriations
subcommittee on financial services, which oversees important
agencies such as the U.S. Treasury. That gave him the power
of the purse, or at least the quarter.'I said 'Ah-ha!' ' Serrano recalled. 'So I said, 'Puerto
Rico will get a quarter. But it shouldn't be just Puerto
Rico; it should be all the territories.' 'Not that the District is a territory, he quickly pointed
out. 'But it's certainly treated that way.'The city has already used its license plates, stamped
'Taxation Without Representation,' to trumpet its lack
of voting rights. Some have speculated the city might try
to put that motto on its quarters.To read the complete article, see:
Full Story- 2007-12-23
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