Plan to Give D.C. a Vote In Congress Advances

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Norton Backs Bill To Be Unveiled Today
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is teaming up with U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) to introduce a bill that would for the first time give the District a full vote in Congress, a sign of bipartisan cooperation that advocates of D.C. voting rights hailed as a breakthrough.

The legislation, set to be unveiled at a news conference today, would expand the House from 435 to 437 seats, giving a vote to the District as well as a fourth vote to Utah, the state next in line to enlarge its congressional delegation based on the 2000 Census.

Davis first introduced a version of the bill two years ago, but he struggled to persuade Norton and House Democrats to support it. Through a spokeswoman, Norton declined yesterday to discuss her change of heart, promising to explain all at today's news conference. "We have an agreement in principle with our Democrats, and that's a significant development," said Davis spokesman David Marin. "It's no secret that legislation to give the District a vote wasn't going to go too far without Eleanor Holmes Norton on board."

Advocates of D.C. voting rights also said Norton's sponsorship of the bill was an important development. "We're excited about this. This represents a lot of movement," said Kevin Kiger, communications director for D.C. Vote, a nonprofit organization formed to pursue District representation in Congress. "If Norton is supporting this, we think it will bring Democrats on board. Davis and the Republicans will bring the Republicans on board. So we feel that this has a great chance of passing."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051002249.html

[goclark]

1. Please say it is so ~

That would be amazing!

[Recursion]

3. Yay! 1/3rd of suffrage!

So we get 1 of the 3 voting representatives in Congress every other US citizen gets? Great. Woo hoo.

I am against half-measures like this. DC residents deserve full citizenship, and we should not stop before we get it. I don't care how. Statehood. Recession to Maryland for Congressional voting purposes only. Redefinition of the District of Columbia to non-residential Federal parts of the city. I don't care. We're being taxed without representation, and simply giving us a vote in the house (at the cost of another vote from Utah) won't fix that.

And anyways, the change needs to be Constitutional, not statutory. DC residents had voting representation in the House from 1800 until whichever compromise gave back Arlington and Alexandria to Virginia. Then we had it again in the early 1990s, then we lost it in 1994. If the change is only statutory, we can always have our vote stripped from us again.

The only answer here is a Constitutional amendment granting DC residents 1 representative and 2 senators (I support this), stathood (I oppose this), or recession to Maryland for Congressional voting purposes (I'm ambivalent, but it seems like the best solution practically -- and in any case this change cannot be statutory; it must be Constitutional). Anything else is a poor band-aid that just delays the day that we will be full citizens.

[Tiggeroshii]

4. I think once this is done, the issue could move forward to give DC two

Senators. Of course, don't expect that to happen in a Republican congress. Giving them a representative at least gets them on the road to achieving equal representation.

[goclark]

5. This battle MUST be won!

It makes no sense.

If tomorrow all of DC cleared out like Katrina and turned White,

EVERYONE would have an equal right to vote IMMEDIATELY.

[journalist3072]

2. This is an issue close to my heart

As a life-long resident of D.C.

We pay federal taxes just like everyone else. Yet, we have no representation in the Congress.

However, I am very concerned that this proposed seat for us in the House, seems to be tied to the extra seat for Utah.

Last January, I wrote an email to Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, who said he would be in favor of a seat for D.C., ONLY IF Utah got an extra seat in the House.

Here's the email I sent him then:

Rep. Bishop:

I am writing to you regarding your recent remarks regarding representation in the U.S. Congress for citizens of the District of Columbia. Regarding why you are co-sponsoring legislation with Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) to give D.C. a seat in Congress, you said "It would give us the extra seat we should have had at the turn of the decade," Bishop said. "I'm looking at it very selfishly. I want the extra seat for Utah. ... It's probably not the grandest of motives I've ever had for a bill."

In case you miss the point, I want to state unequivocally to you that full representation in the Congress for DC residents should not be tied to an extra seat for Utah.
District of Columbia residents deserve adequate representation in the House and Senate, regardless of what happens with the extra seat for Utah.

I am a life-long resident of DC, and pay federal taxes just like every other resident of DC. And we are being taxed without representation. This goes against everything that a so-called democracy should stand for.

There are many, many issues that come before the United States Congress, that affect each and every American. Yet, DC residents have no elected offical in the Congress to contact to express their views on the business before our nation's legislative body. We are being left out and locked out.

I find it curious that the current administration talks ad nauseum about democracy in Iraq; yet the United States has failed to bring democracy to the citizens of DC. The current occupent of the Oval Office is on record as being against full representation in the Congress for DC residents.

Again, I want to state in closing that I am opposed to DC's right to representation in Congress, being tied to an extra seat in Congress for Utah. It is morally incomprehensible.