Senate Begins Hearings on DC Voting Rights
Thursday, May 17, 2007
DC voting rights took
another step forward Tuesday when the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee began hearings on the DC Voting Right
Act. “This is a historic time for the
citizens of the District of Columbia,” said
Senator Orrin Hatch (R., UT). “I intend to
make the most of it and hope that my fellow
Senate colleagues will support me in this
endeavor.” Added former Republican Vice
Presidential Candidate and Housing Secretary
Jack Kemp, “White House advisors are putting
the President of the United States in the
position of outspoken opposition to expanding
the democratic idea here in the nation's
capital while simultaneously . . . [arguing
that] the President has the constitutional
authority to defend freedom and extend
democratic rights to the people of Baghdad and
Kabul,” After testimony by seven witnesses,
including DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC Delegate
Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Wade Henderson of
the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights,
Committee Chairman Senator Joe Lieberman
announced that he plans to mark up the bill in
early June. Click
here to watch the hearing, read the
testimony and get the latest on the campaign
for DC Voting Rights. April 16
DC Voting Rights March, photo from the DCVote
website
-Reported by Ann Hoffman