Posted on 02/24/2009 2:31:17 PM PST by batter
The District of Columbia's two-century-long wait for a voice in Congress was a step closer to ending Tuesday with a crucial Senate vote to take up legislation giving the capital city's 600,000 residents a full seat in the House.
The Senate voted 62-34, two more than needed, to begin debate on the measure that would increase the House to 437 members. It would give the Democratic-dominated city a new vote while adding a fourth seat to Republican-leaning Utah.
Key to the vote was that Democrats, who overwhelmingly support the bill, have seven more Senate seats than two years ago when the chamber fell three votes short of the 60 required to end a Republican-led filibuster.
[snip]
Past votes denying residents of the federal capital a vote in the House "left the citizens of the District with the wholly unsought-after distinction of being the only residents of a democratically ruled national capital in the world who have no say in how their nation is governed. It's really astounding," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., sponsor of the measure with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
D.C. is not a State! Only States may have voting Representatives in Congress.
This is similar to creating a new state where there was none before.
Dont’ they read the constitution?
We have become a one-party country.
Sort of “Chicago, with a Zimbabwe twist”.
Good job there, Hatch. Screw the Constitution for a seat for your state. Guess how long it’ll take for a cabal of liberals to move into that district?
This is pathetic, folks.
Our only hope is that there are judges who still know how to read the Constitution.
I hope someone is planning a challenge on constitutional grounds.
Orrin Hatch
Arlen Specter
George Voinovich
Another gang of three to screw us over.
From the bill's page: S.160
Better pray the House somehow stops this or, barring that, some State sues. If not, the next step is for DC to get two Senators too.
You’re right.
Yay! Even more democratic Senators and Congressmen!
I’m in Hatch’s state and I’m not happy. Most here will just think: “great, we got another seat” and fail to notice torn Constitution in the corner.
Yep. Once they get a House seat, it’ll be...”hey, you approved a House seat for us, so we should get a couple Senators, too!”
Give it up folks. We may as well rename the nation Untied States of Hussein.
Next DC will be wanting their 2 Senators.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who spoke in favor of the bill earlier this month, said the question of constitutionality should be resolved by the courts, not Congress.
"As a matter of fundamental fairness, I believe the residents of the District of Columbia should have representation in the House," she said.
Sounds like Collins knows it’s unconstitutional but doesn’t give a damn as long as it’s “fair”.
“Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who spoke in favor of the bill earlier this month, said the question of constitutionality should be resolved by the courts, not Congress.”
Classic gutless politician. “We’ll do whatever we feel like, let the courts tell us if it’s wrong.”
This is in effect ceding congressional power to the courts for a “Well we voted for it but the courts knocked it down”.
Does that mean all the elected officials and their staffs; etc that actually live someplace else get two votes?
This can be resolved by allowing those living there when the constitutional rule was imposed a vote.
OK, how is this fair?
If DC deserves a Representative, it also deserves two Senators.
This half-hearted measure is a trick by liberals.
The SCOTUS will rule that DC either gets full representation or none. That will “force” two Senators onto DC without a vote taking place in Congress.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.