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WASHINGTON - Supporters of a bill that would grant Utah another seat in Congress and give the District of Columbia its first full-voting member say a majority of senators have pledged to back the measure.

Unfortunately, that may not be enough.

Fifty-one senators are securely for the bill, according to backers, and four more are leaning toward voting for it. But if there is an effort to block the bill from getting a final vote, a tactic known as a filibuster, the bill will need 60 votes, and so far, there aren't that many supporters in the upper chamber.

The bill is geared mainly to give the Democratic-dominated district its first House member. But it is coupled with a plan to give an extra seat to Republican Utah, which barely lost out on a fourth congressional district after the 2000 Census.

Boosters are hopeful opponents won't attempt to thwart the bill's passage with parliamentary maneuvers.

"It is obviously important that the Senate move promptly if we are going to get this done," says Rep. Chris Cannon, a Utah Republican. "I am hopeful that our friends in the Senate resist the temptation to throw procedural obstacles in the way."

It's obvious there are majorities for the bill in both chambers, he adds, "So let's get on with it."

Staunch opposition, though, may doom the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the bill is blatantly unconstitutional, citing the founding document's clear language that House members shall be elected by the "people of the several states." The district is not a state.

The Constitution, combined with the 23rd Amendment to allow district residents the right to vote for president, "make it abundantly clear in order to get a congressman you have to be a state," McConnell said earlier this year.

The House cannot add a member by a simple statute, McConnell added. "And I hope that will not happen in the Senate and certainly will not have my support because it is not in the gray area. This is really quite clear."

The bill, which passed the House earlier this year, was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on June 13 by a 9-1 vote. Some Republican senators, though, objected to the bill on constitutional grounds.

And they're not alone. White House advisers have said they will suggest President Bush veto the bill should it pass Congress. The advisers say the bill doesn't pass constitutional muster.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supports the D.C.-Utah bill and will bring it to the floor, his spokesman said last week. Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate.

"Sen. Reid intends to continue to try and push for a vote on this as quickly as possible," says spokesman Jim Manley.

A full calendar, however, awaits the Senate when it returns today, and other pressing issues, such as the energy bill, may take up the rest of July.

The Senate and House are scheduled to be out of session most of August.

Many backers of the D.C.-Utah bill say the measure is akin to other historic civil rights legislation because at the moment, nearly 600,000 district residents do not have representation in Congress.

Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, the primary group pushing the bill, says supporters are in a "strong position" to get past a filibuster should it occur. And blocking the D.C.-Utah bill would send a horrible message against civil rights, he adds.

"There hasn't been a filibuster of a civil rights bill since the days of segregation," Zherka says.

Others pushing for the legislation have been on Capitol Hill lobbying senators to support full voting rights for all U.S. citizens and full representation for Utah, which has long argued that its residents are underserved with only three members.

"We are certainly finding people in the Senate who believe in voting rights and for voting rights for the District of Columbia and for Utah," says Nancy Zerkin, vice president and director of public policy for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

"The important thing is when you look at votes on the Voting Rights Act last year, folks will be hard-pressed not to vote in favor for fair representation" for Utah and the district. "Every vote must count."