"I'm going to nail you here," an inter-rnviewer taunted Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, dc's, veteran congress-woman. "I checked your voting record. You have not voted once while you've been in office. Do you want to defend that?" The interviewer was Stephen Colbert, a comic. But his point was serious. The representative from the nation's capital can speak, but has no vote on whether bills become law. Ms Holmes Norton is not the only one who thinks that is unfair.rnOn February 24th the Senate voted to begin debate on a bill to enfranchise Wash-ingtonians. A parade of senators called it "unimaginable" and "really astounding" that the 600,000 Americans who live in the district have no vote in Congress. If the bill passes the Senate intact, it should sail through the House of Representatives, and Barack Obama says he will sign it.rnThe snag is that the bill is unconstitutional. Members of the House of Representatives must be chosen "by the People of the several States", says the constitution. The District of Columbia is not a state, nor part of one.
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