Efforts to secure a congressional vote for the District derailed on Tuesday, fewer than 48 hours before D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton planned to bring the voting rights bill to the House floor.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said provisions to the bill stripping D.C. of most of its gun control laws crippled the measure this week, days after the Maryland congressman said lawmakers were gearing up to approve a pared-down version of the gun amendment.
But the National Rifle Association wouldn’t back down and instead pushed for language that would permit people to “walk on the streets carrying an assault weapon slung over her shoulder,” according to Norton.
Norton said she couldn’t accept the amendment and asked Hoyer to withdraw the bill, making this the second year in a row D.C. voting rights have been bogged down by a gun control debate.
Last year, the U.S. Senate passed a D.C. voting rights bill for the first time since 1978, but House leaders shelved the bill because they weren’t able to block attached gun control provisions.
Norton revived the bill this year with the support of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and President Obama. Regarding the bill’s withdrawal, Obama’s deputy press secretary Bill Burton said, “I think the president has been very clear … that folks who live in D.C. should have voting rights. It’s something that he consulted with members of Congress on; it’s something that his staff has worked hard on.”
Hoyer said he is “profoundly disappointed” in the measure’s failure this year, calling the nation’s disenfranchised capital a “blight” on America’s democracy.
About six of the 13 D.C. Council members — including Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) — have voiced opposition to the bill.
“I could never support a compromise for fundamental voting rights and representation by making assault weapons legal on our streets and giving up local control of the city’s gun laws,” Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells said in a statement.
The NRA did not return calls for comment.
Hoyer said it’s unlikely the House will revisit the bill this year, but lobbying group DC Vote, plans to rekindle debate.
“We are going to continue to look for ways to move the bill,” said Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote. “There will be plenty of opportunities.”
