Hundreds of advocates for D.C. voting rights Thursday took to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Congress Day 2007, organized by DC Vote, kicked off with a rally at the Cannon House Office Building and ended with a meeting between Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In between, activists visited congressional offices to lobby for the D.C. Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act, which would expand the House by two seats, with one going to the District and the other to Utah.
Hundreds of people, including members of the D.C. Council and students from area universities, visited more than 200 offices, passing along information about the legislation to congressional staff. Aides are critical to the lobbying effort, DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka said, because it’s the staff who write the memos and decide what’s on the agenda.
Following their meeting, Norton said Pelosi was committed to bringing the bipartisan bill, which opponents consider unconstitutional, to the floor for a vote. Fenty, through a spokeswoman, described the meeting as “very positive,” though the speaker said the bill needs minor tweaks and did not commit to a date for a floor debate.
“The speaker strongly supports D.C. voting rights and the continuing efforts by the Democratic leadership, Congresswoman Norton, Chairmen [John] Conyers and [Henry] Waxman to finalize the language of [the legislation],” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in an e-mail. “The speaker hopes to have a floor vote on this historic issue as soon as possible.”
Fenty and DC Vote have planned an April 16 march on Capitol Hill to coincide withthe District’s Emancipation Day.
