DC Voting Rights Bill Scheduled for Senate Floor Already! (2/13/09)

D.C. Voting Rights Bill Scheduled for Senate Floor Already!

February 13, 2009

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was informed today by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act of 2009 will go to the Senate Floor on Monday, February 23, the first day the Senate is back in session from the President's Day recess. In addition, the House is expected to mark up the bill as early as the week of February 23.

"Just two days ago, this bill was voted out of a Senate committee, and already the Majority Leader has scheduled it for the Floor consideration," Norton said. "Although the stimulus bill passed and crowded out most issues, the D.C. voting rights bill has been moving with the speed rare for a bill this year, and I know I speak for D.C. residents and elected officials when I express our gratitude to Majority Leader Harry Reid for putting our voting rights bill on the fast track. We appreciate the same quick action by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI.), who moved first on a mandatory House hearing, and continue to move with the same speed to get D.C. its vote.