The Senate offers the city a vote in the House -- at a cost.
Friday, February 27, 2009
THE SENATE voted yesterday to give the people of Washington, D.C., a voting representative in Congress. It was a historic moment and should have been a moment for pure celebration. But both moment and measure were tarnished by a dangerous amendment that would strip D.C. officials of their rightful authority to regulate guns. Senators, perversely, offered the District a taste of democracy while at the same time not trusting it to run its own affairs.
The 61 to 37 vote marked the first time in 31 years that a D.C. voting rights bill passed the Senate. "What I want to say is 'Hallelujah,' " said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who, with Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), sponsored the bill that would expand the House by two seats, one going to the District and the other to the state next in line to pick up a seat (Utah would be the immediate beneficiary).
The House is expected to pass the bill next week without, we hope, the amendment that would gut the District's gun control laws. Sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and approved 62 to 36, the amendment would bar local officials from enacting any laws or regulations to discourage private ownership or use of guns. Among the common-sense regulations that would be repealed are city laws requiring vision tests, setting age requirements and forbidding gun ownership by those recently released from mental institutions.
No doubt some of those voting yes are counting, as we are, on this ridiculous measure not getting traction in the House and being eliminated during conference. As Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) pointed out, the object for many senators was to avoid becoming a target of the powerful gun lobby. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) didn't even try to discourage Democratic support for the measure. Virginia's two senators, James Webb (D) and Mark R. Warner (D), showed little regard for the rights of their neighbor as they supported a proposal they would never seek to impose on their home towns.
A brighter note this week was the actions of eight Republicans, who, siding with the Democrats, voted for cloture, which allowed the plight of disenfranchised D.C. residents to, at last, get before the full Senate for consideration. Voting rights advocates believe they have the momentum to get a bill that both houses can agree on and that President Obama will be eager to sign.
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