Oppose the fourth seat plan

A few hundred people took to the streets of Washington this week, chanting and waving banners in support of a bill that would grant the District of Columbia a full-fledged, voting member in the House of Representatives. Utahns were conspicuously absent in this rally.

We hope this was because they are reluctantly realizing that the bill, besides being unconstitutional, would give the district more than it would the people of Utah. Frankly, the Beehive State doesn't need it.

In order to make the bill politically palatable, politicians agreed to allow the District of Columbia one representative and the state of Utah one more, as well. Utah, which missed out on a fourth House seat by only a few hundred residents in the 2000 Census, most likely would elect a Republican, which would cancel out the Democrat that most likely would be elected in Washington.

Hence, a compromise that makes all sides happy.

But as the 2010 Census comes closer, Utahns are beginning to understand that they can expect at least one more House member soon regardless of what happens in the District of Columbia. Perhaps they are beginning to understand, as well, that the Constitution clearly does not allow a representative from the district without a constitutional amendment. That, after all, is what Americans had to pass more than 40 years ago before Congress could grant the district votes in the Electoral College.

The Constitution may at times be inconvenient, but it remains the supreme law of the land. Good causes — and granting the many residents of Washington representation is a good cause — still must conform to what the Constitution says. This is the reason President Bush has promised to veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk.

The House likely will pass the bill soon. In the Senate, its chief supporter is Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. Lieberman already has said he hopes to have the support of Utah's two senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett. Both have expressed support for the bill in concept, but both also seem to be reluctant to vote for something that may be illegal and that almost surely will be vetoed.

They should follow their reluctance and actively oppose the bill. Utah has little left to gain from it. The District of Columbia should add representation the right way, without messy compromises.