District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007

Floor Speech

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 2007

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support this important bill--the DC Voting Rights Act.

It is long past time to pass this legislation. It is not a question of politics or political advantage, it is a question of civil rights--it is a question of whether we believe that those people who live in the city that houses our Democratic institutions, who often work in the Federal government, deserve equal representation in our legislative body.

There is simply no excuse to deny the hundreds of thousands of residents of our Capital City the right to equal representation in the United States Congress. They are citizens in every way. They pay the same federal taxes as anyone else, can serve in the armed forces, and are subject to the same laws of the land. What a terrible message we send when the people in the capital of the world's greatest democracy do not have a vote in the people's House.

I have the privilege or representing the district right next to Washington, DC, and it is simply wrong that when you cross the border from my district into Washington, DC, you go from a district where you have voting representation to one where you do not.

Mr. Speaker, we have before us a bipartisan compromise that extends full voting rights to our neighbors here in the District. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and finally end taxation without representation.

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