Feb 26 2009
DC Nears House Vote
The U.S. Senate passed a bill, 61-37, Thursday that would enable the District of Columbia to have a vote in the House of Representatives. Washington D.C. currently has a delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who serves on committees but who is not allowed to cast floor votes.
The House must have an odd number of members. The chamber presently has 435 members. The bill would expand the body to 437 members. Washington D.C. would get one vote and the state next in line to get an additional House seat according to census figures would get the second extra vote.
The House is expected to pass the measure next week. President Obama is expected to sign the bill. Opponents of the plan, who say the Constitution allows only states to be voting representatives in Congress, are threatening a lawsuit. The District of Columbia is overwhelmingly Democratic so the bill would all-but-ensure another Democratic vote in the House.
This is absurd. I know it’s our capital, but really, it’s a territory. Just like Guam and American Samoa and Puerto Rico. If D.C. can vote, they should all be able to vote as well.
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