Today the U.S. House passed the DC Voting Rights Act. It was an historic day as it was the first time since the 70’s that the House has passed anything related to giving the District a full vote in the House. The bill passed 241 to 177, and the companion bill that would fund the new seat passed by a vote of 216 to 203.

I have to give credit to DC Vote, Jake Kemp, Congresswoman Norton, Congressman Tom Davis, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Together they the made sure this bill was re-introduced in this Congress, overcame the numerous hurdles thrown at it, and ensured it passed the necessary committees and the full House chamber.

I echo the statement made by Mayor Fenty:

“This is a great and historic day for the residents of the District of Columbia. I look forward to the continued success of the D.C. Voting Rights Act and urge the Senate to take up this important legislation immediately.”

The next steps are getting it through the Senate and, of course, getting the President to sign it. But for now the victory is the House is something to savor.

Despite the wind, cold, and rain thousands of people showed up today to march and demand a vote for the District of Columbia in the House of Represenatatives. We heard from Mayor Fenty, Chairman Gray, and Delegate Norton - all of whom gave fantastic speeches on the issue in front of a very enthusiastic crowd. The weather cut short the time for eloquent remarks that would have been made by the Shadow Delegation, but I’m not one to have people stand in the rain.

Afterward we had a nice reception in the Dirksen Senate Office Building hosted by Senator Lieberman. I used to intern for him back in 1989, so of course he remembered all the great work I did stuffing envelopes and answering phones. (Just kidding…but I did hang up on his wife in the first hour of my internship. Way to hit the ground running in DC!).

Senator Lieberman has been a huge champion on this issue and I know his leadership in the Senate will get this bill to the desk of the President. And if he doesn’t sign it, we’ll take to the streets again and march the other way on Pennsylvania Ave!

A tip of the hat to DC Vote and all their coalition partners in running such a smooth event. The people came out in force today, and it will make a difference.

Updated: Here is the Post article on the event:
“Getting Out to Get a Vote”
(PHOTO: IntangableArts)

In case you haven’t heard by now, last week a few Republican Congressmen temporarily blocked the progress of the DC Voting Rights Act on the House floor using a rarely implemented parliamentary procedure. Representatives Lamar Smith (R-TX), Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) attempted to amend the DC Voting Rights Act by adding a section that would eliminate DC’s gun control laws. It was a pathetic attempt to not only deny over a half million people voting representation in Congress, but to also re-write our local laws to their liking.

This is only a minor setback. The bill will return to the House floor!

Can you please take a minute and make two phone calls to help with this effort? I need you to call both Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Both have been champions on this issue and we need to thank them for their leadership in this fight. They also need to hear from people that this bill needs to brought back to the House floor this week before the upcoming recess.

Their phone numbers are below:

Speaker Pelosi: (202) 225-0100

Majority Leader Hoyer: (202) 225-3130

Please make the following points on your phone call:

* You are calling in regards to the DC Voting Rights Act
* You are very appreciative of their leadership on this issue
* You are urging the House leadership to bring the bill back to a floor vote this week.

Please take a few minutes and make the call today. These offices need to hear from people like you to get this bill back to the House floor. After you make your calls, please forward this email to others who would be supportive of this effort.

Don’t forget to tell your friends and co-workers about http://www.freeandequaldc.com

I saw this go down live, and now this came over the AP Wire:

Legislation to give the District of Columbia voting representation in the House stalled short of passage Thursday when Republicans unexpectedly injected the volatile issue of gun control into the debate.

Apparently fearful they might lose control of the proceedings, Democrats decided to postpone action on the voting rights measure, which had appeared to be moving methodically toward passage.

Seems that Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has thrown a wrench into the plans by motioning to recommit with instructions. His idea is that if you are for District Voting Rights, then you have to be for repealing the District’s handgun ban as well.

No word on when this is going back to the floor….I’ll post more when I know.

Here is a link to the Post article on this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032200683.html

I really hope he didn’t get the idea from the District’s own lawyers who argued the 2nd amendment doesn’t apply to the District because it’s not a state. (Talk about a mixed message when we are going for voting rights the same week!).

Also, I thought Rep. Al Green from Texas had the best speech of the day….noting that there were two camps on Constitutional issues like the Dredd Scott case, Plessy v Ferguson, and Brown v Board of Education. The question is, as he stated, what side are you on?

Debate on H.R. 1433 is wrapping up and the House is about to vote.
Go to C-SPAN to watch.

There’s still time to go to http://www.freeandequaldc.com to take action!