Washington, D.C. is not a state and therefore has no federal voting representation in
Congress. The city's residents elect a
non-voting delegate to the
House of Representatives (
D.C. at-large), who may sit on committees, participate in debate, and introduce legislation, but cannot vote on the
House floor. The district has no official representation in the
United States Senate. Neither chamber seats the district's elected
"shadow" representative or senators. Unlike residents of
U.S. territories such as
Puerto Rico or
Guam, which also have non-voting delegates, D.C. residents are subject to all federal taxes. In the financial year 2012, D.C. residents and businesses paid $20.7billion in federal taxes, more than the taxes collected from 19 states and the highest
federal taxes per capita.
