Senate Vote: Voting Rights for D.C. Residents
Summary: Provides District of Columbia residents with a voting member in the U.S. House of Representatives
Result: Cloture Motion Failed
A vote for the cloture motion was counted as a + vote (in line with LCCR's position)
View individual member votes on this bill by state:
Bill Name: District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007
Bill Number: S. 1257
Issue: Voting Rights
Date: 09/18/07
Roll Call No. 339
In September 2007, the Senate leadership moved to proceed to consideration of S. 1257, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007 (DC VRA).
The DC VRA would provide District of Columbia residents with a voting member in the U.S. House of Representatives. D.C. residents are currently represented by a nonvoting delegate.
At the same time, the DC VRA would provide Utah with an additional House seat, increasing its delegation from three to four members. This increase, in addition to keeping either political party from gaining an advantage in Congress from the bill, would ensure that the Utah congressional delegation more accurately reflects the size of the state's population.
LCCR supported the bill.
The right to vote for those who make and enforce laws – the antidote to the evil of "taxation without representation" – is the most important right that citizens have in any democracy. Yet for more than 200 years, and even though they pay taxes and meet all the other responsibilities of citizenship, D.C. residents have been denied this right.
In addition, following the last reapportionment of House seats in 2001, because Utah's population was not properly counted in the 2000 census, its citizens have not been represented as fully as they deserve.
The DC VRA would address both problems, and would do so in a constitutional manner. The House had already passed a similar bill (H.R. 1905).
Opponents of S. 1257 sought to block the Senate from moving forward with consideration of the bill. Under Senate rules, overcoming such an attempt (by invoking "cloture") requires a 60-vote margin.
Result: The motion to invoke cloture fell short of the necessary 60 votes (57-42).
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