Congress reconvenes this week for the last time before the fall elections.
The session will see a new round of hearings for a bill that would give D.C. formal representation in Congress.
But both sides of the aisle say they expect the September session to be dominated by immigration and anti-terrorism bills.
House Republicans have promised to bring up what they now call an “enforcement first” immigration bill, which is designed to crack down on illegal immigration.
This has put House Republicans against their counterparts in the Senate, who have passed a “path to citizenship” bill that would allow illegal immigrants to work to receive their citizenship.
The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on the Senate bill, which House Republicans are naming for Democratic Sens. Harry Reid and Edward Kennedy, on Friday.
House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has also promised to bring up a bill that would allow President Bush to continue a wiretapping program and to try suspected terrorists before military tribunal.
Both parties are accusing the other of exploiting those issues for electoral gains.
“Republicans are working to keep America safe through policies based on strength and purpose, rather than confusion and defeat,” Boehner said in a statement released Friday.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that the Republicans have run a “do-nothing” Congress and are only now hustling because they’re afraid the Democrats will take over the House.
“The Republican Congress has been absent without leave,” Hoyer said.
Many onboth sides admit that the Democrats have a good chance of taking over the House in the fall. Republicans are hoping strong immigration and anti-terror bills will appeal to voters.
On Sept. 14, the House Judiciary Committee will take up the “District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006.”
The bill, which would give D.C. a voting member in the House and give an at-large seat to Utah, is the closest D.C. has been to representation in decades.
It’s not clear what the bill’s chances are. Judiciary Committee chair F. James Sensenbrenner has only promised to give the bill a hearing, not to pass it.
Supporters of the bill — including D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who would gain a promotion from its passage — say they’re hoping for its passage.
“Win-wins in an election year are scarce,” Norton told The Examiner, “but a vote each for Utah and D.C. surely qualifies.”
