Civil Rights Leaders, District Residents to Lobby Senate for DC Voting Rights
Feature Story by Teresa Kraly - 5/14/2002
Wednesday, May 15th, District of Columbia residents, community leaders, and national civil rights organizations will descend on Senate office buildings to lobby for equal voting representation for DC citizens in Congress. At noon, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, People For the American Way, DC Vote and Stand Up for Democracy will begin Senate Lobby Day 2002, visiting members of the U.S. Senate to recruit co-sponsors for the "No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2001," which requires full voting representation in the US House and Senate on behalf of District of Columbia residents, or exemption from federal taxation.At a press event on May 2nd, a broad coalition of civil and human rights leaders, local elected officials and concerned District residents announced Lobby Day and affirmed the their resolve to end the perpetual disenfranchisement of DC citizens.
Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, spoke vehemently on the importance of the bill, calling voting "the language of democracy," whereby DC with no vote, "is a silent voice in the wilderness." Blaming Congress for "creating two distinct classes of citizens: those of the states and those of the District of Columbia", Henderson urged social justice organizations to unite in support of Lobby Day and the fight for DC voting rights.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has long been a leader in the movement for full voting rights. As DC’s only Congressional representative, Norton can propose legislation, but she cannot vote, leaving the citizens of DC with no representation in return for upwards of two billion dollars in federal taxes. Norton believes the fight for a voice in government appeals to bipartisan values. "Democrats and Republicans will sign on," said Norton, "We just have to ask."
Daniel Solomon, Chair of DC Vote, a nonprofit organization advocating the voting rights of DC residents, declared, " We're going to lobby Congress to get full representation, so we can have Washingtonians voting in the Senate and in the House of Representatives who will lobby on our behalf 365 days a year."
Stand Up for Democracy, another key DC voting rights organization and a co-sponsor of the Lobby Day, attended the May 2 news conference, delivering a moving speech concerning the real effects of DC's lack of power on the people of DC. Wayne Turner criticized the policy of congressional riders that block locally funded projects. Citing the recently won battle over the Domestic Partnership Law, which was first passed by the DC Council in 1992, but only enacted last year: "Democracy is, literally, a life and death issue."
DC Mayor Anthony Williams scolded Congress for allowing "the citizens who live in the shadow of democracy's architecture" to not have a vote, to not be able to exercise the freedom and rights provided by our Constitution. District citizens "pay the second highest per capita federal income tax yet they are treated as second-class citizens," said Williams (Connecticut is first).
Congressional representation for DC has been on the civil rights agenda for years, but Ralph Neas of PFAW believes that now is the time for victory: "We are going to win on this issue, no doubts!"
For those interested in joining leaders of the civil rights movement in Lobby Day, contact DC Vote at 202-462-2000. Co-sponsors of this lobby effort include: the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, People For the American Way, DC Vote, and Stand Up for Democracy.
