House votes to give D.C. a seat

The House yesterday approved congressional voting rights for the District of Columbia, granting the D.C. delegate a vote for the first time in the nation’s history and adding a seat in Utah to increase the size of the chamber to 437 members.

In a 241-177 vote, the House approved a bill that Democrats call a long-awaited victory for 600,000 District residents and many Republicans derided as “trampling on the Constitution.”

Democrats voted for the measure by a 219-6 margin, and Republicans opposed it 171-22. The White House has threatened to veto the measure, which also must still face consideration in the Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress was about to finally “do right by the citizens of the District of Columbia” and said “we will not rest” until the District has full voting rights.

“America is at its best — and honors the cause of justice and freedom — when all voices are fully represented,” the California Democrat said. “And we know that the citizens of the District of Columbia will give their voices to a vision of justice, equality and opportunity for all. They already have the voice, now they will have the vote.”

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican, lamented the “taxation without representation” status of the District, saying Congress has a moral obligation to give fair representation to the District’s taxpaying residents, especially those who serve in the military and work in government jobs.

“As a Republican I am not willing to bear the shame for failing to finally resolve this matter,” he said, imploring his colleagues to “see through the fog … [and] do the right thing.”

But most Republicans and the Bush administration argue the bill is unconstitutional because the Constitution says that Congress members must be elected “by the people of the several states.”

“The District of Columbia is a federal city and not a state,” said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican. “The new Democratic majority is trying to pad their numbers on the floor.”

Mr. McHenry and others say a fairer plan would give portions of the largely Democratic District back to neighboring Maryland.

“If the citizens of D.C. want voting representation, a constitutional amendment is essential,” said Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican.

Mr. Davis, a leading proponent of the bill, said he is convinced it is constitutional because Congress has the authority within the Constitution to grant D.C. a vote.

“But even if we are wrong, there is nobility in attempting to do the right thing,” he said.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting representative, echoed this argument, and railed against Republicans who tried to interrupt her for questions during a speech on the House floor.

“I will not yield. The people of the District of Columbia have spent 206 years yielding. You have had your say. Shame on you,” she shouted, prompting the acting speaker to admonish her for violating the rules that comments not be directed at individual members. Mrs. Norton was just elected to a ninth term and can vote in committee but not in the full House.

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