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.

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?

I got the word last night that hearings have been scheduled in the committees of jurisdiction for H.R. 328. It seems Speaker Nancy Pelosi has give the green light to move forward and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has pledged to get things moving this month. In a statement, Hoyer said:

“I am pleased to announce that the House of Representatives will vote on a bill to give the people of Washington, DC full representation in the People’s House by the end of the month. The people of the District have waited too long to have a voice in the House. Democrats promised to move this legislation in the first months of the new Congress and that is what we are doing.”

So now things are in the Judiciary and Oversight committees. We need to put some pressure on the representatives in those committees from people who live in their districts – and from everyone in the country.

According to DC Vote, the schedule (which is still in flux) will very likely will include committee mark-ups as soon as next week!

Please, go to http://www.freeandequaldc.com and take action. Send the link to anyone you know who’d support us on this action. Things are moving, let’s keep it that way!

It’s in the news at:

Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030702279.html

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/03/07/cq_2376.html