Louie Gohmert: “I thank the gentleman for his comments. It is obviously an important issue. We have been taking up such issues, but it…”

“I thank the gentleman for his comments. It is obviously an important issue. We have been taking up such issues, but it is not necessarily the best way to proceed. For one thing, the bill that was passed today to make the District of Columbia a State flies in the face of the brilliance of the Founders when it came to setting up our Federal Government. Before we had the Constitution ratified in 1789, our first President was sworn in under the new Constitution in 1789, George Washington, and the first Vice President, John Adams. They were all sworn in in Federal Hall there in New York City, so that was technically the first Capital under the new Constitution. Before that, under the Articles of Confederation, they used Philadelphia and, obviously, New York. But in the Constitution itself, there was a provision for a Federal district 10 miles by 10 miles square. It included land that was ceded from Maryland that was on the east side of the Potomac River, as well as a little bit less land from the west side of the Potomac from Virginia. The reason the Founders felt it was so important to have a separate Federal entity that was not wholly contained within a State, not contained within a city, but a Federal enclave as the Capital, was so that--the big reason--no State, no city government could try to extort or hold the Capital hostage.…”