Results tagged “stenyhoyer”

Of course, when Republicans heard of the rumor, they weren't pleased, arguing that D.C. voting rights has no place in a defense spending bill. Responding to those concerns, on Thursday Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) argued otherwise. "Now whether or not that will be included in the Defense bill, it is about democracy. It is about participation. It is about respect...I will tell my friend that I will continue to fight as hard as I can to try to figure out how I can bring that bill to the floor, get it to a vote, and give the people of the District of Columbia, our fellow citizens, the right to vote as the citizens in Baghdad can do, the citizens in Moscow can do, the citizens in every free country in the world except the United States of America, can do."

MORE 2:28 p.m.: D.C. Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka just returned our call, and takes issue with our characterization that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act is "dead."

Grim news on the long-delayed D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Roll Call reports (subscription only) from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's regular Tuesday press conference that the congressman is pulling the bill from consideration for the foreseeable future.

It looks like Congress has once again left District residents without a resolution on voting rights. At the end of March, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he expected the D.C. House Voting Rights Act to come to a vote in some form by the end of May. But the U.S. House left town for its Memorial Day recess last night, making it now impossible for anything to happen until June at the earliest. We're also still waiting to see if the White House is going to get involved, as D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton claimed last week and the Post demanded yesterday. Rumor has it that Attorney General Eric Holder is on the job, but even a big push from him next week wouldn't yield any forward momentum from an absent Congress. We're still hoping for the best, but we're not above feeling like we're stuck in a real-life version of Groundhog Day.

First the issue of guns came to haunt the D.C. voting rights bill, now it seems to be haunting other pieces of legislation Democrats are looking to pass. The Politico reports today that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has all but thrown in the towel, admitting that Republicans have effectively used amendments related to guns to either stall legislation or force conservative Democrats into tough votes. While the voting rights bill has been stuck due to an amendment that would gut the District's gun laws, legislation on credit cards will likely pass with an amendment attached that will expand gun carrying rights in national parks. Hoyer still claims that the D.C. voting rights bill will pass "one way or another."

For those of you who weren't able to tune in to The Politics Hour on WAMU earlier (you can download the audio if you'd still like to listen), you missed House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in his first appearance ever on the program. Hoyer called in half way through the show to discuss the most recent developments on the D.C. House Voting Rights act, expressing his regret that he couldn't get the bill scheduled for a vote next week.

D.C. Wire is reporting that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says he is "hoping" to get a vote by the end of next week on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House. But what will the legislation look like? Will it have a gun law-gutting amendment, which most voting rights advocates oppose? No one's really sure. According to the Post's Mary Beth Sheridan, "Hoyer has been considering compromises on the bill that could deliver a House seat for the District but would also be acceptable to city leaders who oppose the gun amendment." D.C. Wire also reports that the special D.C. Council Committee on Statehood and Self-Representation will be meeting today at 4 p.m. in Room 502 of the Wilson Building.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.), a longtime proponent of the D.C. Voting Rights Act, released a statement announcing that the bill should reach the House floor for a vote next week. The bill will be marked-up in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Last time we live blogged the House debate on District voting rights, things didn't go too well. We're hoping for a bit of an improvement today. From what we've heard on the Hill, debate kicks off at 10:30 a.m., and the legislation has been split up into two separate parts -- one covering the actual voting seats both D.C. and Utah would receive and the other dealing with the minor increase in annual spending the...

The nation is still transfixed on the latest coming out of Blacksburg, especially the startling images and words that have come out of the package Cho Seung-Hui apparently sent to NBC News between his two shooting sprees. It's also of course talking about the day's two biggest stories coming out of Washington: The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the so-called partial-birth abortion ban, and the start of Congressional testimony by embattled Attorney General Alberto...

Breaking just now: The DC Voting Rights Act (now H.R. 1905) is scheduled to return to the House Floor tomorrow, Thursday for a vote. The move comes after a week of speculation that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had removed the bill from this week's schedule for unclear reasons. Today it is now definite: the bill will come to a vote tomorrow. The bill originally stalled on the House Floor last month after three Republican...

Republican procedural game-playing cannot defeat a principled and bipartisan voting rights bill for 650,000 Americans. We don't get mad--but we do get even.

Hoyer and Pelosi Need Your Input: Mike Panetta, D.C. Shadow Representative, informed us that voting rights activists are pushing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to bring the voting rights legislation that was derailed last week back to the floor of the House this week. They're afraid that if it gets pushed off until next week, it may well get lost in the usual congressional shuffle. Panetta has...

OK, we're going to try live blogging debate on the House floor as much as we can. Acting speaker right now is Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA). Floor manager Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Judiciary Chairman, has just finished introducing the legislation and expressing his belief that the District Clause allows the Congress to make any laws for D.C. it sees fit. 12:27 p.m.: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is currently making the case on behalf...

How many times have we written this headline, only to be disappointed as another roadblock gets thrown in the way of District voting rights? Far too many times. But we're a little more optimistic these days.

Around the time of last year's State of the Union address, we asked whether then-Mayor Anthony Williams should have foregone attending the annual event as a guest of First Lady Laura Bush, to make clear his continuing disappointment with the District's lack of voting rights. Some commenters thought the idea preposterous, with one going as far as to opine: Of course the mayor should attend. What the f*ck is boycotting it going to accomplish? Do...

It seemed like it would be our year. After lobbying throughout most of 2006, voting rights activists and their allies in Congress had all but convinced House Republicans to go along with a plan to grant the District one voting seat in the House of Representatives. The relevant congressional committees had signed off on the legislation; Utah, which would similarly gain a seat in a partisan tit-for-tat exchange, formally endorsed the idea; President Bush indicated...

Even if today becomes the commuter apocalypse being predicted, at least the heavens won't open up and swallow you whole. After yesterday's violent storms, D.C. can expect a balmy 63 degrees and partly-cloudy skies to ease you into the weekend. So roll up your sleeves and get ready for some fun. Freaky (Freight) Friday: Are you one of the thousands of people are stranded this morning due to the Thursday night derailment of a freight...

Teresa Chambers, the whistleblowing former U.S. Parks Police chief is in court once again fighting for her old job back. Chambers, who was suspended last December -- and ultimately fired in July by the Interior Department, had complained publicly that her agency was understaffed and underfunded, leaving security of Washington's memorials and park land in jeopardy. This, of course, didn't sit too well with her superiors. Her suspension and firing, brought politicians into the fray,...