Seeking A Vote On Vote For D.C.

Hundreds Gather To Persuade Lawmakers

D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) join bill sponsors Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). The bill would give the District full voting rights in the House. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

Hundreds of local residents and politicians wearing "Let DC Vote" buttons descended on Congress yesterday to urge legislators to give the District a full seat in the House of Representatives.

The crowd of amateur lobbyists gathered in an ornate hall in the Cannon House Office Building to push a long-sought bill to give the District voting rights. Nearly 400 people turned out, organizers said, including Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, D.C. Council members and the bill's sponsors, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.).

"We have one simple question: When is the vote going to be on H.R. 328?" demanded Fenty (D).

The event also drew regular folks: retirees, union workers, and students such as Selvon Waldron. The 22-year-old moved to Washington three years ago from Trinidad and Tobago and discovered the city lacked full representation.

"I found it very baffling -- the capital of the free world has no vote in Congress," said Waldron, a senior at the University of the District of Columbia.

The highlight of the advocacy blitz was a meeting that Fenty and Norton had scheduled with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Pelosi's office later said that she hopes to have a floor vote "as soon as possible" on the measure.

Norton was busy on two fronts: She also raised the issue with President Bush during a meeting he had with the Congressional Black Caucus. He made no commitments.

The bill would expand the House by two seats -- one for the heavily Democratic District, the other for Utah, which leans Republican.

In the last Congress, the measure attracted dozens of co-sponsors from both parties. But, as the D.C. vote activists discovered yesterday, support for it is hardly universal.

Rep. Roy Blunt (Mo.), who holds the No. 2 leadership position among House Republicans, came out of a 10-minute meeting with Fenty with a tepid comment: "We had a good start to that discussion."

Acknowledged the mayor: "It would be inaccurate to say he was a supporter."

Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) said some legislators she visited were confused about the consequences of giving the city a vote. "A lot think, if they do it for us, will they have to do it for Guam and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands?" she said.