A set back today as the DC Voting Rights Act only got 57 vote - 3 short of the 60 it needed in the cloture vote.

Here’s the Post Article.
D.C. Vote Bill Dies in Senate

I’m very upset that Democrat Max Baucus voted against it. I’m happy we got 8 Republicans to vote with us (Hatch, Bennett, Voinovich, Coleman, Snowe, Collins, Lugar, and Specter).

But you know who I’m going to work like hell to remove from the Senate? Mitch McConnell. He put the strong arm on a number of Senators who were going to vote with us, but changed their minds before the vote. We thought we had Smith. We thought we had Cochran. I hope everyone in this city will work with me to make sure we Ditch Mitch! I’ll have more information on this later. (link updated)

I have to thank DC Vote for all the work they’ve done. In my advocacy work on a number of issues, I’ve learned there talkers and there are do’ers. The group at DC Vote is a bunch of doers…and we’ll all be back an get it done.

After a long summer and waiting out the Senate’s ‘vacation without representation’ the DC Voting Rights Act (S. 1257) is due for a cloture vote Tuesday at 2:30 PM. This is a make-or-break moment for this bill, we’ll need 60 votes to be sure to beat any filibuster attempts.

What can you do to help? Glad you asked!

1. Attend the DC Vote rally on Capitol Hill on Monday, September 17th. It’s from 11:00 to 12:30 at the Dirksen Senate Office Building at Constitution Avenue, NE and 1st Street, NE. You can RSVP with our friends at DC for Democracy by clicking here. I’ll be there and I hope you can be too.

2. National Call in Day for DC Voting Rights: Also on Monday, September 17th there is a national call in day to the Senate to urge the passage of the DC Voting Rights Act. The number is 1.866.346.3008 between the hours of 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM EDT. Targeted Senators include:

• Arlen Specter (R-PA)
• Richard Lugar (R-IN)
• Gordon Smith (R-OR)
• Sam Brownback (R-KS)
• John McCain (R-AZ)
• Thad Cochran (R-MS)

If you need some talking points, Marc Fisher had a great list of reasons for Senators to vote for this bill in his column earlier this week:

Giving D.C. Residents the Vote: It’s the Right Thing to Do

Tuesday will be an historic day for DC Voting rights - please do what you can make sure it’s also a day of celebration.

Vote on DC Bill Likely Not Happening in August

The Post reports today, what we found out yesterday before the rally. That the Senate will likely not take up the DC Voting Rights Act before the August recess. Congresswoman Norton assured everyone that this will not affect the chances of passage…but we should still push to get it on the agenda before the break.

DC Shadow Senator Mike Brown had the line of the day:
“No Vacation Without Representation!”

(Photo by Keith Ivey)

As you know, the DC Voting Rights Act is still in the Senate where it is just a few votes shy of being filibuster proof. Next week Congress leaves town for its August recess, so it’s urgent that you take some time for one more push on this bill before the Senate shuts down on August 3rd. Here are few quick things you can do:

National Call in Day

Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 24) DC Vote is organizing a national call-in day for the DC Voting Rights Act. Please take a minute and call 1.866.346.3008 between the hours of 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM EST, and you will be patched through to your Senate office. Tell your Senator to pass the DC House Voting Rights Act (S. 1257) this summer! If you live in DC, you will have the chance to tell the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell how much this legislation would mean to you. The call is free and it will make a difference.

Lunchtime Rally

On Wednesday on July 25 from 12:00 - 1:30 PM, DC Vote will be organizing another voting rights rally outside of the Dirksen and Hart Senate Office Buildings. We will meet on the north side of Constitution Avenue between First and Second Streets, NE, for a short rally and then fan out in the Senate office buildings to distribute literature to staffers. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), one of the sponsors of the DC House Voting Rights Act, is a tentative special guest.

Do You Know Anyone in Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, or Virginia?

If so please tell them to go to http://www.FreeAndEqualDC.com and send a message to their Senators. They are the swing states . . .and we need to you to push them the right way!

DC Voting Rights at YearlyKos Convention

On Friday August 3rd I’ll be leading a panel entitled “Taxation Without Representation: Alive and Well in the Nation’s Capital” at the YearlyKos convention in Chicago. I’ll be joined by Martin Austermuhle from Dcist.com, Kesh Ladduwahetty from DC for Democracy, and Danny Rose from DC Vote.

YearlyKos is an annual conference of the top progressive political bloggers in the country. Many of these bloggers are very influential in their state’s political scene, thus having them educated and mobilized on District voting rights is critical. I always say the fight for DC voting rights takes place in every district during every election and these bloggers will be key allies in all those races. You can find out more at: http://www.yearlykosconvention.org.

Please do what you can to help out this week. Thanks for all that you do!

Earlier today the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs voted to send the DC Voting Rights Act to the full Senate. In addition to the Democrats on the Committee, GOP Senators Collins (ME), Coleman (MN), and Voinovich (OH) voted yes on the bill. It was unfortunate that our neighbor, Senator Warner of Virginia, chose not to listen to his House colleague, Representative Tom Davis, and voted against giving the District a vote.

I really liked what Senator Norm Coleman had to say. He spoke about his experiences as an urban mayor, and how things in his city were really affected by what the federal government did. He also said it was time to end the “paternal” relationship Congress has over the district, as it was not fair and just wrong. It’s nice to see a member of Congress draw from his or her own experiences and do what they think is right – that doesn’t happen as often as it should. I also have to give thanks to Senator Lieberman for leading this bill through the Senate and working to get today’s bi-partisan vote.

Today was a great day for DC voting rights, but there is still work to be done. The full Senate will vote on this bill later this summer and we still need to convince a few Senators that the time to give DC a vote is now! Please remember to tell your friends, family, and co-workers about FreeAndEqualDC.com – it only takes a few minutes.