Standing Room Only for a Seat in the House
June 13th, 2007
Marc T
Marc was a 2007 summer intern in the Right to Vote Program.
A loud round of applause sounded through the halls of the Senate this morning as the fight to end taxation without represenation in the District of Columbia moved one more step forward.
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved the DC Voting Rights Act this morning with a vote of 9-1, sending the bill to the floor of the Senate. Support came from both sides of the aisle as Sen. Collins of Maine, Sen. Coleman of Minnesota, and Sen. Voinovich all voted for the bill and expressed their support to the committee.
A group of FairVote staff and interns were on hand to show their support and witness the proceedings. The committee room was filled to capacity with DC vote supporters, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. The crowd burst into applause when the vote came back 9-1 to approve the bill with bipartisan support.
Only two hurdles remain for the DC Voting Rights Act as the District comes close to ending over 206 years of taxation without represenation. The next action will be consideration by the full Senate, and then approval from the President.
Other posts by Marc T
- Standing Room Only for a Seat in the House - June 13th, 2007
- Democracy still safe in the Dorms - June 11th, 2007
June 15th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Hopefully it will attain enough votes to squeak by in the Senate, although convincing the President is another story, which is sad. But it’s interesting, if the Senators who don’t support this legislation based on their interpretation of the constitution, would they then support an amendment if introduced? Well, there’s always 2009…