DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 2007
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Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to indicate that I will be voting ``yes'' on H.R. 1905 and that I have supported it for 15 years, and I am very happy to be supporting the doing away with the disenfranchisement of the people of the District of Columbia.
I want to thank the Gentlelady from the District of Columbia, Ms. Norton, Chairman Conyers, and the Gentleman from Virginia Mr. Davis for working very hard to bring the vote to the residents of the District of Columbia.
I rise today in support of this legislation.
This country's history is replete with certain groups being denied the right to vote.
Being from Florida, I understand about disenfranchisement. It is something I fight against and oppose every day. Disenfranchisement did not end with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and it will not end when the residents of the District of Columbia finally get the right to vote. It is a continual fight, needing eternal vigilance to protect.
This bill will go a long way in righting the wrongs that have been perpetuated on the American people for too long.
This bill ends the 206-year-old injustice of ``taxation without representation'' for over a half a million District residents. Residents of the District of Columbia serve in the military, pay billions of dollars in Federal taxes each year, serve on juries, and assume other responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. And yet, for over 200 years, they have been denied full voting representation in the Congress. The United States is the only democracy in the world that deprives the residents of its capital city full voting representation in the national legislature. Essentially, residents of every State have a vote regarding the laws that govern the District, while those living in the District itself do not.
Support the right to vote. Support voting rights for the residents of the District of Columbia. Support H.R. 1905.
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