Bill to Give D.C. a Full Vote Is Revived

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Thomas M. Davis III reintroduced a bill yesterday that would grant the District a full vote in Congress, and a top Democrat expressed optimism that it will pass the House.

"The case for a D.C. vote in the House is crystal clear and compelling," Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement. He said he would study the bill and a previous version of the measure introduced last May and work with Norton and Democratic leaders to get it passed.

"Whatever vehicle ultimately reaches the floor for consideration, the end result will be the same: a full vote for D.C. in the House," Hoyer's statement declared.

Advocates have sought to give the District a full vote in Congress for decades, and the Norton-Davis bill has been considered the most promising effort in years. But it is not clear how quickly the measure will be considered.

Davis (R-Va.) said the bill would be a priority in the two House committees that will consider it: the Judiciary Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he is the top Republican.

"We hope to see floor action in the first three months," he added.

Norton (D) was more cautious, noting that her party is focused on passing a handful of other bills in the first 100 hours of congressional debate.

The bill aims to win bipartisan support by creating two House seats -- one for the heavily Democratic District, and another for the state next in line to expand its congressional delegation based on census results. That state is currently Utah, a Republican stronghold.

The bill was approved overwhelmingly by Davis's government committee in the last Congress and attracted dozens of co-sponsors from both parties. Among them was Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif)., the new speaker of the House.

But, with Democrats now controlling Congress, some party members are wary of granting another seat and electoral vote to a heavily Republican state such as Utah.

Ilir Zherka, executive director of the advocacy group DC Vote, said he and other supporters of the bill have succeeded in persuading some Democrats in recent weeks to abandon those concerns.

"In our view, the bill without that dual-seat component would be difficult" to pass, he said. He noted it would be especially hard to win approval in the Senate, where Republicans could block the measure by filibustering or simply having a member put a hold on the bill.

In addition, "it would be more likely the White House and others would oppose it," Zherka said.

Democrats traditionally have supported expanded voting power for the District; among those who have backed the Norton-Davis bill is the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich). In a statement yesterday, Conyers called the bill's introduction "an important first step in the effort to grant voting rights to District residents."

Critics say the bill is unconstitutional. Some legal scholars have testified that the Constitution grants full membership in Congress only to states. Others say Congress has the authority to treat the District as a state for purposes of representation.