Martin Austermuhle
Republicans can’t even let the District have a symbolic victory, can they?
Roll Call is reporting today that House Republicans are threatening to sue over a rule change passed Wednesday that allows D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and the representatives of U.S. territories to vote on amendments to legislation on the House Floor. Republicans claim that only states should have the right to vote on the House floor, and that the change grants the Democratic Party an advantage since four of the five representatives are Democrats.
The representatives were granted the same voting rights in 1993 and 1994, and a Republican lawsuit against them was thrown out by a U.S. Court of Appeals. Republicans eventually did away with the rule when they took power of the House of Representatives in 1994. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), an opponent of the rule change pictured at right, made clear why he voted against it:
If they want to vote in this body, Mr. Speaker, they should pursue statehood, plain and simple.
Fine. So when can we expect the Dreier Act for District Statehood?
