Though the District continued its slow crawl back to normalcy after Tuesday night’s ice storm, hundreds of District residents and supporters fanned out in Congress to lobby for legislation that would grant the city a voting seat in the House of Representatives. Part of a lobby day sponsored by D.C. Vote, the almost 400 residents divided up into 50 teams and aimed to visit every member of the House, bringing with them a simple message — we want a vote.

Gathering in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building early this morning, voting rights activists and supporters — including bus-loads of senior citizens brought in from Wards 7 and 8 and students from area schools and universities — listened to speeches by city leaders, only to be sent off into the halls of Congress wearing buttons proclaiming “Let D.C. Vote,” holding cards with basic talking points and ready to tell anyone who would listen why this wasn’t a matter that could wait any longer. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) called the legislation — currently before the House Judiciary Committee — a legal and moral imperative, while D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton called upon the memory of Army Specialist Darryl Dent, the only a District resident killed in Iraq, to rally residents. Few worried about a recent Congressional Research Service report that called the legislation unconstitutional, assured by Davis and others that legal experts had reviewed and green-lighted the legislation.

While the majority of participants met with staffers, Fenty spoke directly to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), who has expressed support for the legislation. And though Fenty insisted that the measure move forward, Pelosi didn’t hint as to when it would come to a vote on the House floor. Should it not face a vote in the coming months, Fenty has promised a march on the U.S. Capitol to coincide with the District’s Emancipation Day, April 16.

And though numerous lobbyists and visitors wandered the halls as they always do, the District’s resident-lobbyists made their impact felt. As the event came to an end, a man expressed his surprise at the number of voting rights proponents that were to be found. “These D.C. people are everywhere,” he told a friend.