Washington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – There are approximately 7.6 Million Americans living overseas, and if they were to become a separate state of the U.S., they would constitute the 13^th largest population, next only to the state of Virginia.

That is exactly what Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) is proposing in a new bill she filed today in the House of Representatives.

Bachmann filed H.R. 707 creating the 51^st state of the U.S. and is calling it the “At-Large State.”  All Americans living abroad would automatically become voting citizens of the new state and they will be able to vote by absentee ballot for their representatives to Washington, D.C.  Currently, expatriates don’t have a voice in Congress, especially when it comes to taxation.

High taxes have become a hot button issue among American expatriates. The number of Americans giving up their citizenship mainly because of tax issues surged to 3,000 in 2013 – three times more than the previous year.(This is not to mention U.S.-based corporations moving their headquarters abroad to significantly reduce their tax liability).

Another point of contention among expatriates is a federal law called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCO which compels foreign banks and other financial institutions to provide information to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about Americans holding accounts. It is meant to catch American expatriates who don’t pay enough taxes, or not pay at all.

Bachmann’s bill is brilliantly crafted.  The senator had previously announced that she would not be seeking reelection to her Congressional seat in 2014.  Sources say she plans to move to Istanbul after her current term expires.  If her bill becomes law, she would automatically become a citizen of the 51^st At-Large State and would be eligible to run for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

It would be the best of two worlds for Bachmann.