Washington » Utah's chance for a fourth congressional seat and the District of Columbia's hopes for its first full-voting member are being held up in the House by a gun rights provision Democrats are trying to keep out of the bill.
The Senate voted last week to add language to the measure that would restore what gun advocates say is full Second Amendment rights to district residents, who previously have been banned from owning handguns.
Democratic leaders have now pulled the DC Voting Rights Act from the agenda.
"A House vote on the D.C. House Voting Rights Act will be postponed to allow more time for discussion on outstanding matters," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Wednesday.
He said he remains committed to he bill and bringing it back for a floor vote "as soon as possible."
The D.C. City Council passed a resolution Tuesday calling the gun rights rider on the bill "onerous and odious."
House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio blasted the move as breaking a promise to restore "regular order" to the floor, which refers to procedures that allow straight up votes on agenda items.
"By maneuvering to deny Second Amendment rights to residents of our nation's capital, Democratic leaders have made it clear that 'regular order' and the will of the American people will be respected only when it serves their interests," Boehner said.
The DC Voting Rights Act is primarily aimed at getting the 600,000 residents of the nation's capital a full-voting House member, but Republican Utah, which missed out on a fourth House member after the 2000 Census, was added to the bill to balance an expected Democratic member from the district.
