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!

According to our friends at DC Vote, Senator Lieberman has announced that the mark-up in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will very likely be Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00 AM in 342 Dirksen. This information is subject to change, so check back for updates.

They also ask to keep up pressure on Senator Susan Collins from Maine, as she is seen as a swing vote on the committee. How Collins votes on this bill next week will be very telling on a number of levels.

First, she’s seen as a very “gettable” Republican, so it will be an instant barometer of support from moderate GOP Senators - as will the votes of Warner, Voinovich and Coleman. So, if you know anyone in Maine, please send them to http://www.freeandequaldc.com

Second, it will say a lot about the actual clout Senator Lieberman has on this bill. Lieberman has endorsed Collins for re-election in 2008 over Maine Democratic Congressman Tom Allen (who did vote for the bill in the House and has been a friend to the District). If Lieberman can’t deliver Collin’s vote, then it calls into question what votes he can actually deliver. On this issue, Lieberman is a good friend to have, so let’s hope he can close the deal on some GOP members.

See you at the hearing next week….

The Senate’s Majority Leader has given a green light to bring the DC Voting Rights bill to the floor of the Senate if it passes a key committee next week. This is great news, now we just need enough Senators to pass the bill.

The Hill’s Kelly McCormack has a good article about this development.

“Moving this ball down the court means moving it out of committee and onto the floor,” Reid said at a press conference with the D.C. Council, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). “I intend to do that,” Reid said. 

Don’t forget to get your friends to take action at http://www.freeandequaldc.com.