Disenfranchising the voters of the District of Columbia was an oversight by the founding fathers, who weren't keen on taxation without representation. When they wrote that the House shall be elected by the people of the "several states," they couldn't have known that the District would become a metropolis of 581,000 citizens. Now it's time for Congress to set politics aside and correct that mistake.

For the first time in decades Congress appears willing to address the issue directly, instead of seeking a constitutional amendment, an effort that failed in 1985 when only 16 of the required 38 states ratified the change.

This time, the House approved a measure designed to pass political muster by assuring that neither party will gain an advantage in the House. True-blue Washington, D.C. would get a seat and presumably elect a Democrat; blood-red Utah, which narrowly missed gaining a seat after the 2000 Census, would receive a fourth seat and presumably elect a Republican. It sounds like a plan.

But there are roadblocks to final approval and implementation, including the threat of a presidential veto, the potential for litigation on constitutional grounds, and opposition from Republicans in the Senate that could turn a politically-neutral bill into a political battle of wills.

The showdown begins today, when the Senate will decide if it will bring the measure to the floor for debate and a vote. And if it is sent to the floor, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, has promised to introduce an amendment that will address Republican suspicions that the push for a House seat for the District is actually a prelude to a an eventual play for D.C. seats in the U.S. Senate, which could alter the political balance of power.

Bennett's amendment would nullify the legislation if the Supreme Court should rule that the District of Columbia is also entitled to Senate seats, and would assure that Utah keeps its fourth seat if the court determines that the District is not entitled to representation.

It's hard to say if the amendments would help or hurt the bill's chances, but they will certainly strip the non-partisan veneer from the measure, and couch the debate in purely political terms. And that's not fair to the disenfranchised voters of Washington and the under-represented residents of Utah.

Congress needs to put partisan politics aside, do the right thing, and bail out the founding fathers. A vote for the bill is a vote against taxation without representation.