Bush to Study Bill That Would Give D.C. Full Voting Rights

President Bush said yesterday that he will review a bill to give District residents full voting rights in the House, marking the first time he has spoken about a measure that local lawmakers are trying to win approval for over the next few weeks.

The bill, introduced six months ago, also would add a congressional seat for Utah. Proponents of D.C. voting rights have waged a major push to get the bill passed this year.

"It's the first I've heard of it," Bush responded to a question during a news conference at the White House. "I didn't know that's going to come up from the lame duck."

The president was referring to the last few days of the current Congress, which returns to session next week and will adjourn before Thanksgiving. He did not say whether he would support the bill.

"Well, it may or may not come up. . . . But I'll take a look at it," he said.

Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman, said Bush was aware of the bill but wants to study it.

U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who introduced the measure with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) in the spring, said he has talked about the issue with the president.

"The congressman said that he had a conversation with the president months ago and followed up with a lengthy memo on it to the White House office that deals with policy matters," said Brian McNicoll, a Davis spokesman. "This is a legacy issue. We're working hard on it. We're not done, and I do not see the president vetoing this."

Bush's comments come a week after prominent D.C. politicians and business leaders met to determine how they can get the bill passed this year.

Voting rights advocates want Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to move the bill to the floor for a vote. But before that, Utah lawmakers would have to approve a redistricting map that would create a fourth congressional seat for the state.

The bill would expand the House from 435 to 437 members. In hopes of winning broad bipartisan support, Davis and Norton proposed that one seat go to Utah, which is predominantly Republican, and the other to the District, which is overwhelmingly Democratic.

Chris Bleak, chief of staff to Utah House Speaker Greg J. Curtis (R), said the legislation creating the congressional seat for his state could be moved in a day.

"If we get the signal that this bill is going to move forward, we will move quickly to pass that bill," Bleak said. "We just need to get the thumbs-up from Representative Sensenbrenner or our congressional delegation telling us to move forward."

Norton predicted that Bush would sign the bill if it cleared Congress because it benefits both parties. "The president will take his cue from what the Congress does," Norton said.

Staff writer Michael A. Fletcher contributed to this report.