Measure Offers Norton More Voting Power

Emancipation Day marks the day -- April 16, 1862 -- that President Abraham Lincoln signed an act freeing more than 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia. The District made the day an official city holiday in 2005.

Norton thanked Fenty for his support but said April is too late to mobilize citizens. And she said the lobbying day in February isn't enough.

"A zillion groups come up to lobby," she said. The bill "will get attention from Congress when they see those citizens" in the streets.

Fenty then indicated he might switch course and turn the lobbying day into a mass event.

"We're going to make that as big as humanly possible," he said.

Mayoral aides and D.C. vote supporters said they were dismayed by Norton's public disagreement with Fenty. The mayor and Norton met after the news conference to iron out their differences and agreed to work together on the events, Norton said.

The bill co-sponsored by Norton and Davis would add two seats to the House -- one for the District, which is overwhelmingly Democratic, and one for heavily Republican Utah.

The measure was approved by one House committee in the last Congress, but it did not reach the floor for a vote.

Supporters say the bipartisan bill offers the city its best hope in years of getting a representative with full voting rights in the House. Opponents have questioned whether it is constitutional. And some people have said it does not go far enough because it would not give the District voting representation in the Senate.

The rule change to be introduced Wednesday would allow Norton and the other delegates to vote in the committee of the whole, which handles most major House votes -- except on the final passage of legislation.

The added voting power would have an important caveat, though: If the delegates cast the deciding votes, other legislators could disregard the decision and request a new vote, without the delegates' participation.