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Report: DC changing license plates to read 'District of Columbia'
Washington, D.C., is reportedly changing its moniker on license plates issued to drivers in the city to "District of Columbia."
The Washington Post reported Friday that the change has been ordered by Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray.
A spokesman for Gray, who has staunchly advocated for D.C. statehood, told the newspaper the license plate change was a statement about the capital city's desire for independence from congressional control.
“Under the charter that establishes Home Rule in the District, we are the District of Columbia, and the plates should match that,” Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro said, according to the paper.
“This is the District of Columbia, and to a lot of folks, in their minds, that is what we are: We are D.C.,” Ribeiro continued.
For more than a decade, the capital city's license plates have included the phrase "Taxation Without Representation," a reference to the city's lack of voting members in Congress.
The district's lone representative is Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who is a "non-voting" member that is only allowed to cast votes on legislation during committee hearings.
The taxation slogan on D.C. license plates has presented a political quandary for presidents taking up residence in the city for four or eight years. President Obama notably placed plates with the slogan on his limousines recently after eschewing them for his entire first term.
The decision was being seen as a victory by advocates of D.C. statehood.
Obama initially followed a precedent set by former President George W. Bush, who did not include the taxation license plate on vehicles during his tenure in the White House from 2001 to 2009.
Bush's predecessor, former President Clinton, added the taxation license plates to his limos when they were introduced during his final year in office.
