D.C. Statues Bill Caught Up In Voting Rights, Gun Law Controversies

Forget about a living, breathing member of the House. The District is having trouble just getting representatives made of marble into Congress.

A bill that would add statues of two D.C. luminaries -- abolitionist Frederick Douglass and architect Pierre L'Enfant -- to the halls of the Capitol has stalled and may not make it out of the House before the end of the 111th Congress, as the seemingly innocuous measure has become snagged by the ongoing controversies over voting rights and the District's gun laws.

The bill, a longtime project of D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), cleared a House committee in July and appeared headed for the chamber floor, with the statues of Douglass and L'Enfant completed and waiting at One Judiciary Square for their invitation into the Capitol. But as is often the case when D.C.-related matters arise in Congress, the issue turned out to be more complicated than meets the eye.

Republicans and some conservative Democrats are eager to weaken the District's gun laws, and have previously tried to attach such language to a bill giving D.C. voting rights in the House. Now, those pro-gun members see the statues bill as another potential vehicle.

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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/09/dc_statues_bill_ caught_up_in_v.html?wprss=dc

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