The mistaken belief that states have to be admitted in pairs has led to the idea that Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. must be admitted as states together. One of the issues with that idea is that Puerto Rico is an Article IV territory and Washington D.C. is under Article I.
But what does that mean? Read on for a simple explanation of Article I vs. Article IV.
Article I
Article I of the Constitution basically explains how the government will work. The Enclave Clause, Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, says that Congress will have the power “To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of Government of the United States.”
That is, Congress was able to create a district (not a territory) up to 10 miles square to be the seat of the federal government. The states that owned the land used for this purpose had to agree and Congress had to approve the choice of land for the capital. This is just like Article IV, which says that when Congress makes a new state, any states whose borders are affected by the new state have to agree. Congress was never able to force those changes onto a state.
But Article I is not about making new states. It’s not about territories. The Enclave Clause is really only about Washington, D.C. No other part of the country meets the definition. When we look at Article I vs. Article IV, one enormous difference is that Article I talks about the District of Columbia and Article IV talks about new states. They don’t overlap.
However, Congress could make a new enclave, perhaps including just the White House and the Capitol, the Supreme Court, major monuments and the National Mall. There would be no residential areas, so there would be no need for votes in presidential elections — no voters would live there. Voters living in the White House vote in their home states. Then the rest of what its now Washington, D.C., could ask to become a state. This is the process in recent statehood bills for D.C.
Article IV
Article IV explains the relationship between states and the federal government, and among the states. Occasionally anti-statehood factions say that Puerto Rico should have a definition of statehood before voting on a permanent political status. That definition is in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.
Section 3 of Article IV has the information about admitting new states. “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
This doesn’t give much detail about how states should be admitted or how decisions about admission should be made. It just says that Congress can admit new states. If admitting the new state would change the borders of any neighboring states, those states have to agree. This part of the Article IV is similar to the part of Article I that says the states giving up land for the District that will be the seat of government have to agree to give the land up. Congress can’t just grab it. Equally, Congress couldn’t grab part of one state to make it into a new state. The state legislatures would have to agree.
Territories are different. Article IV also says, “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.” Congress can make all the decisions about territories belonging to the United States, like Puerto Rico. Congress could admit Puerto Rico as a state tomorrow by a simple majority.
As we approach the 250th birthday of the United States, it’s a good time to get to know the U.S. Constitution. Articles I and IV are a good place to start.
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