Pretty much everything has been proposed to get the District its long desired voting rights, but not much progress has been made since the city’s residents were disenfranchised in 1801. Will today be the day that changes? We can only hope so.

At 9:15 a.m. today, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton formally introduced new legislation that would grant the District one full voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Called the D.C. Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006, the legislation will add two seats to the House, one for the District and one for Utah. The measure is similar to one introduced last year known as the D.C. Fairness in Representation Act of 2005, but differs slightly in that the expansion will be permanent and Utah’s new seat will be statewide, thus avoiding a redistricting process that Democrats fear would cost them their one seat in the state.

The compromises seem to have garnered more bipartisan support than earlier attempts, with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Ca.) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), both members of Davis’ Government Reform Committee, joining in the press conference. D.C. Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka had this to say of the legislation:

We applaud legislators on both sides of the aisle for coming to a consensus on a bill that brings democracy to America’s capital. The bill’s introduction keeps DC’s denial of democracy in the spotlight where it should be, and it helps shape the debate on this important voting rights issue.

Of course, this measure is sure to spawn debates over the value of only gaining one seat in the House while leaving the larger questions regarding voting representation in the Senate, statehood and budget autonomy unanswered. Honestly, at this point, we’re ready to offer Marion Barry up for symbolic sacrifice to get Congress to move on anything resembling voting rights.