Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) joined D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, members of the D.C. Council, and the executive director of D.C. Vote this morning at a press conference at the Wilson Building, to give an update on her bill, S. 1257, "The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007," and to offer her continuing support to local officials, and grassroots and civil rights organizations as the Council announced plans to move forward with a D.C. Council bill allowing for electronic message boards ticking off the taxes D.C. residents pay without representation. The boards will be located at the Wilson Building and near the new baseball stadium to promote D.C. voting rights.

The Congresswoman's statement is below:

"In anticipation of a Senate vote, I am reporting that I am optimistic that we have the votes to pass the bill because of discussions with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); strong support from the Democratic Caucus; continuing, enthusiastic support and assistance from the Chief Republican sponsor Orrin Hatch (R-UT), along with the chief sponsor Joe Lieberman (I-CT); and continuing work by House cosponsor Tom Davis (R-VA), among many others too numerous to thank. We do have new commitments, but we have not been authorized to release them.

I am very grateful for the special attention and work of Mayor Adrian Fenty, Council Chairman Vincent Gray, and the City Council, who have seized new opportunities to press for voting rights. "The Taxation without Representation Federal Tax Pay-out Message Board Installation Act of 2007", is an especially creative example by the Council and the bills' sponsors, Council members Kwame Brown, Marion Barry, Carol Schwartz, David Catania, Tommy Wells, Phil Mendelson, Mary Cheh, Jim Graham, Jack Evans, and Harry Thomas, deserve our special gratitude. However, I believe that all would agree that the grunt work to line up the critical national support necessary to get the votes has not been done by public officials, but by D.C. Vote, working with the people of the District of Columbia, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the coalition of national organizations that have worked for this bill for a half-dozen years. In fact, congressional ethics bars members of Congress from the necessary lobbying that D.C. vote has done.

D.C. Vote has been an indispensible actor. Working almost entirely from private contributions from Republicans and Democrats alike, D.C. Vote travelled to the targeted states, met with the important players, and generated positive pro-voting rights news stories and editorials wherever they went. They were on the ground, giving a human face and voice to the bill with professionalism and good spirit. Our voting rights efforts have never had this level of continuing grassroots support before, and D.C. Vote's work shines in the results. Along with D.C. Vote, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which enjoys unique bipartisan respect among Senators, has been equally important to our efforts. LCCR has never ceased its work for D.C. voting rights. Its willingness to score S. 1257 for purposes of rating the civil rights record of Senators, along with its continuing lobbying of Senators, who always weigh LCCR very seriously, have been important ingredients to our success.

On the ground here in the Senate, we have briefed Senator Reid's staff on the extraordinary work of D.C. Vote and LCCR in the field, which in itself deserves a new Senate vote. In turn, Majority Leader Harry Reid is working with us to get the three additional votes we need. Senator Reid has not yet set a time for a new vote but he is aware that time is short and I have confidence that we will get another vote this term.

I am particularly buoyed by the continuing enthusiasm of my longtime friend Senator Orrin Hatch, the chief Republican cosponsor of S. 1257. Senator Hatch has authored a very scholarly article, appearing in the Harvard Journal on Legislation, that I am releasing today entitled: "No Right is More Precious in a Free Country: Allowing Americans in the District of Columbia to Participate in National Self-Government." The article is deep and pervasive in arguing for the rights of the residents of the nation's capital to have the House vote and is particularly valuable in disposing of the excuse that the bill is unconstitutional. Moreover, Senator Hatch was the chair of the Judiciary Committee for years when the Republicans controlled the Senate and is respected on both sides of the Senate for his expert knowledge and background on the Constitutional and the law.

Our native son, former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke, the first popularly elected African American senator, has continued to speak directly to Senators. We timed the Congressional Gold Medal - the highest congressional award for Senator Brooke, who was born and raised here, to drive home the importance of our own voting rights struggle. The Senate and House have voted to give Senator Brooke the medal and he will receive it soon. Senator Brooke is among a number of influential Republicans who are working hard on the bill. I thank them, but cannot mention them all. However, the work of Republican Tom Davis and former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Jack Kemp has been critical in garnering new commitments.

We believe we have the votes. At the very least we believe that we have earned another Senate vote because of the work of D.C. Vote; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; D.C. residents; the national coalition of organizations; our Senate cosponsors; Senators Lieberman and Hatch; Representatives. Tom Davis and Jack Kemp and; of course, our own D.C. public officials.