The House of Representatives is likely to vote in September on the D.C. Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act, H.R. 5388.  This bill is a bipartisan measure that would deliver real voting representation in Congress for those who live in our nation’s capital for the first time in 215 years.

H.R. 5388 increases the number of representatives in the House to 437, ensuring that the District of Columbia shall be considered a Congressional District from now on. Between now and 2012, the additional seat will be an at-large district in Utah.  The bill has already passed the House Government Reform Committee with an overwhelming 29-4 vote.  The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the bill on September 14, and is expected to mark the bill up shortly after the hearing.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, DC Vote, Common Cause, various religious denominations and the Metro DC Council are leading a large coalition in support of the bill.

The AFL-CIO endorses H.R. 5388, the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act and will make passage of H.R. 5388 a high priority for the remainder of the current Congress.

We also urge our affiliates to endorse the bill, send letters of support to the entire House of Representatives, and assign their legislative and political directors to make passage of the bill a high priority. We will instruct our state federations and central labor councils to send letters to Representatives within their jurisdictions supporting H.R. 5388 and to educate their members about taxation without representation for residents of our nation’s capital.

Finally, we will join the DC Vote coalition that is leading the D.C. voting rights effort.