Norton's Work with Leadership Clears Path to House Floor for D.C. Vote Bill This Month - 3/7/07

            Washington, DC-After meetings this week with Democratic leadership and relevant committee heads, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced a timetable for House passage of the D.C. vote bill by the end of this month before recess, which begins on April 2nd.  Norton said that she expects the bill to be moved next week by both committees.  The Judiciary Committee will pick up where it left off during the 109th Congress, with a full committee hearing and markup. The Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing near the end of the last Congress.  Also next week, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on which Norton and Ranking Member Tom Davis (R-VA), co-authors of the bill sit, will again mark up the bill. This committee did most of the work and achieved the most progress ever, culminating in a vote of 29-4 last May.

            "When all is said and done, like every important decision in the House, the decision to move forward was made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who weeks ago said to me that she was ready with this bill she regards as historically important," Norton said.  "I know I speak for my constituents when I express deep gratitude to the Speaker for the time and effort she personally has spent on the bill.  We in the District embrace this milestone in the journey of our citizens for two centuries to obtain the most basic of American citizenship rights-the cherished right to be represented in the People's House."