This means that the District of Columbia does not have its own senators and representatives. That decision was not a mistake or oversight on the part of the Founding Fathers, but was an integral part of the original constitutional design to keep the seat of our federal government out of the political process so that it would remain the servant of all the people, and not become our master.

In the 1980s, the people who don't like our Constitution the way it was written tried to eliminate this provision by a proposed constitutional amendment to give Washington, D.C.. representation in Congress "as though it were a state." The "D.C. Representation" Amendment passed Congress, but it was rejected by the American people and died on Aug. 22, 1985, after 34 of the 50 states refused to ratify it.

The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, is the 20th century's reaffirmation of the District of Columbia as a unique juridical entity in the American system. The 23rd Amendment allows district residents to vote for president and vice president like all citizens, and even gives them an electoral vote disproportionately larger than all but the smallest states.

That should have been the end of it, but some misguided members of Congress keep trying to end run around the Constitution.

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., has launched a new attempt to bypass the District Clause by pretending the District is something that it isn't. H.R. 5388 would give the District a House seat by stating: "The District of Columbia shall be considered a Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives."

Assuming that a representative from the District would always be a Democrat, Davis tries to make his bill palatable to Republicans by another section that would increase the number of House members from 435 to 437 and give the extra representative to Utah, a Republican state.

We urgently need more study of the U.S. Constitution to learn what is says, why it has survived for more than two centuries, and why Americans should defeat all mischievous attempts to bypass it with unconstitutional laws.