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D.C. Delegate Has High Hopes for Voting Rights Act
| Source: |
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Kansas City Star (KS) |
| Date: |
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Friday, November 21, 2008 |
| Author: |
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Stephen Penn |
With the recent election of President-elect Barack Obama, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the delegate for the District of Columbia, predicts that the passage of the D.C. Voting Rights Act will occur sometime next year.
Norton recently addressed the Trotter Group, the collection of black columnists from across the nation, on the subject of voting rights for the District of Columbia.
She said she would submit the legislation to Congress sometime in 2009 and was confident that it would finally gain passage in the House and the Senate.
Norton is allowed to speak from the House floor and to vote and serve on committees, but unlike a full representative, she is not permitted a legislative vote. As a result, she contends her constituents are denied their voting rights and representation.
Norton said she spoke with Obama months ago about the matter, and she said Obama was sympathetic to the issue of voting rights for the District of Columbia.
He should be. In the Senate, Obama is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
“The reason I’m looking forward to this next year is, not only do we have a president who I think instinctively understands, I think we now have a Congress which also believes the time has come for this city to cross over the divide and become a part of America like everybody else,” Norton said.
She pointed out that during World War I, the District of Columbia had more casualties than three states. In World War II, the district had more casualties than four states. And in the Korean War, the nation’s capital had more casualties than eight states.
“We’re paying our dues,” she said. “And last time I heard, those dues are owed the most basic rights of American citizenship. Think about the people who fought and died for their county without a vote.”
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Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington bureau, has told the Trotter Group that his organization would strongly advocate congressional passage of universal health care.
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http://www.kansascity.com/news/columnists/steve_penn/story/9 03500.html
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