D.C. Voting Rights Bill on U.S. Senate Floor

The Senate version of the D.C. Voting Rights Act, known as S.160, hit the floor of the U.S. Senate at just after 2:50 p.m. this afternoon. We'll admit that our knowledge of detailed Senate procedure is no doubt more limited than some of our readers who work on the Hill, so please, feel free to correct us as we write and listen at the same time.

After a lengthy reading of George Washington's Farewell Address, the bill was officially opened for Senate debate. But first to speak on the floor after that happened was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who made a speech about health care.

Since then, we've just been sitting through a lengthy quorum call, and C-SPAN2's piano music. We're not totally sure when or if any senators will to decide to discuss the voting rights bill on the floor today or not. The cloture vote has been set for 11 a.m. tomorrow morning.

3:50 p.m. New Mexico's Tom Udall (D) came to the floor to talk about a notable New Mexican who recently passed away, and now Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is talking about the economy, Joe Biden, and various other topics.

4:23 p.m. Hey something happened! Specter has moved to be added as a co-sponsor of S.160, making brief remarks that he thinks voting rights for the District is "long overdue." Thanks, Sen. Specter.

5:49 p.m. Well, that's that. No real debate today, the Senate has adjourned until 10 a.m. Tuesday. We'll be back tomorrow for the cloture vote.