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D.C. voting-member bill scores reid pledge |
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By Kelly McCormack
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Posted: 06/07/07 06:47 PM [ET] |
A bill that would give D.C. residents a voting member of the House won a victory yesterday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed to bring the bill to the floor if it passes through committee next week.
“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.
“Residents of the District of Columbia pay taxes, they serve in the military and they have no right to vote,” Reid said. “[The] time has come to change that.”
Next Wednesday, Lieberman, who is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, will hold a markup of the bill.
Lieberman, who is a cosponsor of the legislation, thanked Reid for his support but said there is a long road ahead.
“We have our work yet ahead of us, because we need 60 votes” for the bill to pass, Lieberman said. “I don’t believe that we have them right now, but we’re in reach and together we’re going to get it done.”
The bill would increase the size of the House from 435 to 437 members by giving D.C. a voting member and requiring Utah to redistrict in 2008. Utah fell short of gaining a seat in the 2000 census. The House passed a similar bill in April.
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