District of Columbia residents want to have real representation in Congress, like other Americans. And they are entitled to it. But a bill currently being considered in Congress to accomplish that goal appears to be unconstitutional. It would give the district its own voting member in Congress, while granting Utah a fourth House seat before the 2010 Census, but it plainly violates the Constitution's rule that only states can have representatives. The district is a federal territory and not entitled to House representation.

The politics of this are as understandable as they are ill-advised. The proper way to get the job done is either by amendment to the Constitution or by granting statehood to the District of Columbia.

But advocates are not proposing statehood. Whyfi There are not enough votes in Congress to approve it. Past objections have centered on the disproportionate power that would be wielded by a single city if it had two senators. This is the main hurdle, since nobody is worried much about adding a representative for D.C. in the House, where a single vote would be counterbalanced by a large number of others.

Nor are advocates proposing to amend the Constitution to give the district its due representation. This would be proper: just as the 23rd Amendment properly gave the District three electoral votes in 1961, an amendment could give it representation. But an amendment is likewise politically flawed. Getting three-fourths of the states to ratify would be a tall order. Most states are small and may object to a single city carrying full Congressional credentials. The process would take years, and may fail in the end.

And that is why lawmakers have fallen back to the constitutionally repugnant tactic of legislating votes for the District. It seems the easiest way to accomplish their goal. Unfortunately, it is also appears to be illegal. One branch of government doesn't have the power to alter fundamental constitutional structures.

There is a way, however, to grant residents of the District of Columbia their wish without violating the Constitution or adding another state to the union: Simply absorb the city, excluding its federal properties, into Maryland. In this way, Maryland would get additional seats in Congress as a result of the addition of 515,000 residents. And the perceived problem of a unbalanced Senate would vanish. Maryland's two existing senators would do the job for the new arrivals.

It has been done before. When first created, the District comprised 100-square miles carved out of Maryland and Virginia. Congress ceded Arlington back to Virginia in 1847. Now Congress should cede the city of Washington, with all its residential and business districts, back to Maryland, retaining only those areas directly related to federal government functions.

One reason the district was created in the first place was to end the squabbling over which state would host the nation's capital. Unfortunately, it came with ambiguities. Because it was not a state, per se, its people have not enjoyed all the same privilege of representation as other Americans.

Returning the District to Maryland is far better than making it the 51st state. And it makes a lot more sense than the bill now before the House Judiciary Committee, which we believe will not survive a court challenge.

A return to Maryland would be a win for that state. Adding a half-million people to the state's population would mean at least one additional seat in the House and an extra vote in the Electoral College. A down-side would be that Maryland would also get all of the District's social problems and related costs, but perhaps a deal could be cut to mitigate those.

In general this looks like a win-win-win -- for the people of the District, for the State of Maryland and for the Constitution.

Under this scenario, Utah would not get its fourth seat until 2010, but that's no big deal. We have already waited six years; another three or four won't hurt, especially if it means upholding the Constitution.

Instead of wasting time on the bill before the House, Utah's congressional delegation should lead the charge to make the district part of Maryland. Washington residents deserve representation, but they should play by the rules of the nation's founding document.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A8.

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