Senate Going First to Markup DC Voting Rights Bill on Wednesday (2/6/09)

Senate Going First to Markup D.C. Voting Rights Bill on Wednesday

February 6, 2009

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that she was "delighted that the Senate has set Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10 a.m. for its markup of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act," this time ahead of the markup for the same bill in the House. The markup will be held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over D.C. matters. The committee is chaired by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the lead co-sponsor on the bill with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and its Ranking Member is Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who was one of eight Republicans who voted for the bill last session. Considering that the Senate was where the bill fell short last session, Norton said that she was pleased to see the Senate taking the lead to get the bill done. The Senate, which held two hearings last session, did not require a hearing this session, and Senator Lieberman put the bill on his first markup this session. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties quickly held a hearing on January 27, 2009, and a markup is expected soon. Senator Lieberman had said all along that he would markup the bill at his first markup. "I am deeply grateful for Senator Lieberman's energetic leadership in the Senate to bring this forward and to round up the votes," Norton said. "I am grateful to our friends in the House and the Senate who put our voting rights bill on a fast-track, even though both houses are deeply entrenched in the economic crisis and the pending economic recovery bill," Norton said.