Gun concerns pull D.C. Voting Rights Act

Legislation to give the District of Columbia voting
representation in the House has been pulled for consideration on Wednesday because of concerns
about Republican efforts to use the bill to wipe out many of the District’s gun
laws.

A key
House aide confirmed that the bill will be pulled from consideration, at least
for Wednesday. The aide stressed that negotiations are continuing and the bill
could come up in the future.

{mosads}Republicans
want to add the language on D.C.’s gun laws to the bill.

Democratic leaders don’t want that to happen, but many of
their centrist members from Republican districts would vote to support the
amendment to avoid the ire of the National Rifle Association.

But House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said adding the gun language could cost
enough Democratic votes that the entire bill would fail.

The
Senate version of the bill included language deleting many D.C. gun laws. If
similar or identical language passed in the House, it would be difficult for
Democratic leaders to remove it in conference.