After 200 years, Washington, D.C. residents may get a vote in Congress
The Associated PressPublished: January 2, 2007
WASHINGTON: After more than 200 years of paying taxes, fighting in wars and abiding by sometimes arbitrary acts of Congress, Washington, D.C., residents are close to getting their first full-fledged representative in the House of Representatives.
The turning point in this long battle for enfranchisement may be an unlikely partnership with the people of Utah.
The new Democratic majority is expected to take up a bill in the first months of the new Congress that would increase the voting membership of the House from 435 to 437, giving new vote each to Utah, a Republican stronghold, and the District of Columbia, dominated by Democrats.
The bill is backed by incoming Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Rep. John Conyers, the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that will be responsible for moving it.
more at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/02/america/NA_GEN_US_DC_Vote.php