from Action Alert sent from national LWV; see below*
Key Senate Vote on DC Voting Rights
Senators are poised for a critical vote on DC voting rights legislation. A cloture motion requiring the support of 60 Senators will hit the Senate floor on Tuesday, February 24. If cloture fails, the Senate will not even be able to consider this vital voting rights measure.
Click here to enter your zip code and urge your Senators to support cloture, which will bring the legislation to the floor and voting representation to residents of the District!
Voters in our nation's capital are not afforded the same rights as voters in the rest of the country. Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes. And yet they have no voting representation in Congress.
The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 (S. 160) will right this wrong. The legislation provides voting representation in the House for DC citizens by increasing the size of the House by two seats -- one for DC and the other for the state of Utah, which is entitled to the next seat by size of population. This balanced approach provides voting rights for District citizens without upsetting the partisan balance of the House. The legislation does not affect the composition of the Senate.
District citizens deserve to have the same rights as other Americans, including voting representation in the body that makes their laws, taxes them and can call them to war. Only Congress can ensure that the democracy Americans have espoused and fought for across the globe becomes a reality in the nation's capital.
We are poised to make history. Take action today!
TAKE ACTION
1. Contact your Senators now, by phone or by email, and urge them to vote for cloture on the DC House Voting Rights Act. Tell your Senators that the democracy Americans have fought for around the globe must be brought to our nation's capital.
Please enter your zip code and send an instant message to your Senators now! Phone calls are helpful as well, and can be made through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121.
2. Send this alert to other concerned citizens - your grassroots network, your friends and coworkers. Encourage them to contact their Senators today!
BACKGROUND *
Learn more about what the League has done to support DC voting rights.
Sign up to receive Action Alerts directly by email. Don't miss an opportunity to take action!
It's easy to sign up and the League will never share your email with others: http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/mlm/signup/.
For additional information, please contact LWVUS Grassroots Lobbyist Christina Vamvas at lobbying@lwv.org.
Action Alert #111-1, Senate, GLC, 02/18/09
League of Women Voters
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036
202-429-1965 www.lwv.org lwv@lwv.org
