Norton, With Senators' Help, Leads Charge on Votings Rights in 111th Congress

As Washington Post reporter Mary Beth Sheridan noted in her story this morning, lawmakers were not wasting any time pushing D.C. voting rights in this 111th session of Congress.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today did re-introduce the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, which provides a vote for D.C. residents and an additional vote for Utah. Utah missed getting an addition seat after the last census, Norton's office reports in a release about the legislation.

The re-introduced bill also provides two permanent seats to the U.S. House of Representatives, which would bring the number to 437.

"We know from national polls that our bill has broad bi-partisan support from the American people, and we have every reason to believe that we will have the support this year of both houses of Congress and the new president," Norton said in the release.

"The residents of the District of Columbia could not be more fortunate that Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Hatch, our partners in the Senate, whose outstanding and dedicated leadership efforts almost prevailed last session, have continued to work closely with us. President-elect Barack Obama was a senate co-sponsor of the bill. I am very encouraged that with their help, we will see a history-making, bi-partisan increase in democracy for two jurisdictions and for our country."

By Marcia Davis |  January 6, 2009; 11:16 AM ET  | Category:  Voting Rights
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