US House Approves A Full D.C. Seat

[*jr]

Source: Washington Post

By Mary Beth Sheridan and Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 20, 2007; Page A01

A bill giving the District its first full seat in Congress cleared the House yesterday, marking the city's biggest legislative victory in its quest for voting rights in nearly three decades.

Democrats on the House floor burst into applause, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) grabbed the arms of the District's nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, as the 241 to 177 vote was announced. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton with D.C. shadow representative Mike Panetta, left, and shadow senator Paul Strauss after the House vote. "There was nothing but joy in the chamber this afternoon," Norton said. (By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Post)

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But the bill faces considerable obstacles. Democrats don't appear to have enough votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster, and the White House has threatened a veto. If the measure becomes law, it probably will be challenged in court.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... icle/20...

on edit: want to add a clip from delegate Holmes Norton: DC Voting Rights Act debate on the house floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV3k8nERUOQ