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UPDATE (7 PM): In a procedural vote, the Senate voted 57-42 for cloture, just three votes short of the 60 needed to move forward to an actual vote on the DC House Voting Rights Act of 2007. This effectively kills the bill for now, leaving tax-paying citizens of the District without any representation in Congress.

To find out how members of the Senate voted, please CLICK HERE.

ALERT (9.45 AM): DC VOTING RIGHTS - ACT NOW!
BACKGROUND: Residents of Washington, D.C.--including our Disciples sisters and brothers in the Capital Area--are denied the basic right to full representation in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Having a voice in the creation of public policy is an integral part of American citizenship, yet those who reside in the nation's capital are denied this right and have no say on health care, social security, environmental protection, public safety, and foreign policy.

In April, the DC House Voting Rights Act of 2007 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 241-177. This vote-neutral and nonpartisan legislation would permanently expand the size of the House of Representatives to 437 by granting a vote to DC and to the state of Utah, which came closest to receiving an additional seat in the 2000 Census.

Introduced by Senators Lieberman (I-CT) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the Senate version of the bill is S. 1257. Today there is a procedural vote on whether to allow the bill to go forward to an actual vote. If there are not enough votes to break a potential filibuster, the bill will probably not be considered again this year.

TAKE ACTION: The Senate is currently scheduled to address this issue TODAY at 2.15 pm. If you live outside the District of Columbia, please call your Senators NOW (202-224-3121) or CLICK HERE to find the information to email them.

If you live in the District of Columbia, urge your friends and colleagues who live outside the District to call their Senators IMMEDIATELY.

Urge Senators not to block or filibuster this important voting rights bill!