Washington, DC is closer than itβs been in memory to finally gaining voting representation in Congress. The Senate version of a bill that would turn Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton into a voting member of the House passed an important legislative hurdle on Tuesday, when 62 members voted to close debate on the matter, clearing the way for a vote. (This is important because it means there arenβt enough nays to sustain a filibuster and, thus, a simple majority of 51 votes is all thatβs needed to pass the bill.) The House version will sail through the chamber, likely next week.
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But donβt count your votes yet, Chocolate City. As the WASHINGTON POST reports:
Opponents of a bill that would award the District its first seat in the House of Representatives fought back yesterday with a blitz of amendments in the Senate, including one to repeal the cityβs gun-control laws that appeared to have significant support.
[snip] β¦
βClearly, today, thereβs been an orgy of amendments offered to the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, partially in an effort to derail the bill, but also people are using it as an opportunity to put their pet issueβ on the Senate floor, said Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, an advocacy group.
He said the gun amendment βcould be a big problem here.β
That amendment closely resembles a bill passed by the House but not the Senate last year. It alarmed D.C. officials by calling for the removal of almost all locally imposed gun-control rules.
This and any other βpoison pillβ amendment would also need only a simple majority to attach itself to the voting rights bill. Clearly, that would significantly complicate the broader measureβs passage. If you think thatβs some mess, tell βem so.
UPDATE: The Senate passed the bill, with the dirty-trick gun amendment attached, by a vote of 61 to 37. The House will take it up next week, without the gross gun rider. Then itβs up to negotiators to figure out how to get a clean bill to the presidentβs desk. So much for the GOPβs newfound obsession with passing bills without irrelevant add-ons.
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