Civil Rights Groups Pushing for DC Voting Rights Bill in Senate
Feature Story by Eddie Thomas - 8/1/2007
Thanks to civil rights groups and support from Republicans like Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and former New York Congressman Jack Kemp, D.C. residents are closer than ever to getting their full rights as citizens.
The DC Voting Rights Act would give residents of the District of Columbia their first ever voting member in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, the bill grants Utah an additional congressional seat because Utah narrowly missed the opportunity for an additional seat after the last U.S. Census in 2000.
The civil rights community has rallied around the bill, pointing to the fact that D.C. is the only Western democratic capital in the world without a full vote. "Our country is fighting wars abroad in the name of democracy, yet we continue to deny residents of our nation's capital their basic democratic right of representation in Congress," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).
The bill still faces stiff opposition. Opponents claim the bill is unconstitutional and that nothing short of a constitutional amendment can give full representation in Congress to D.C residents.
However, Sen. Hatch, who is championing the bill in the Senate, declared that Congress is on firm constitutional grounds. According to constitutional scholar, Jamin Raskin at Georgetown University, D.C. is treated like a state in more than 500 provisions of the U.S. Code and therefore can be given a full vote in the House.
Most Americans support full voting representation for D.C. residents. A January 2005 poll by KRC Research found 82 percent of Americans also support full House representation for residents of D.C.
LCCR and DC Vote have taken the lead in engaging community leaders around the country on the issue. Through a national grassroots call on July 17th and national call-in day on July 24th, community and grassroots leaders across the nation expressed their support for D.C. Voting Rights.
The House bill passed in April, but the Senate version has been stalled in the Senate and faces a potential filibuster and White House veto.
Despite these threats, civil rights groups have pushed for the bill to be brought to the floor anyway. "We have enough votes to pass the bill on the merits and we have enough votes to cut off a filibuster but we hope that won't be necessary," said Henderson.
