House Considers Bill to Give D.C. Residents a Vote in Congress

January 28, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill that will give residents of Washington, D.C., a voting member in Congress.

Though district residents pay federal income tax and serve in the military, the District of Columbia is the world's only national capital of a democracy whose residents do not have voting representation in the nation's legislative body. Washington, D.C. currently has a non-voting member in Congress.

The bill seeks to remedy this injustice by providing district residents with a voting member in the House of Representatives for the first time in the nation's history.

"The continued disenfranchisement of D.C. residents before Congress continues to stand out as the most blatant violation of the most important civil right that Americans have: the right to vote. Without it, without the ability to hold our leaders accountable, all of our other rights are illusory." said Wade Henderson, president of LCCR, in his testimony before the committee.