In what many experts consider the best opportunity in years for Washington to gain voting rights in Congress, Representative Thomas M. Davis III, Republican of Virginia, introduced legislation on Tuesday that would give District of Columbia residents a seat in the House of Representatives.
The bill tries to break the political inertia and partisan squabbling that has stalled Washington voting rights for two centuries by giving Utah, a Republican bastion, an additional House seat to balance the seat for Washington, which is overwhelmingly Democratic.
Supporters of the measure, including the city's Democratic mayor and most of its Democratic-dominated council, hailed it as a pragmatic compromise, saying they would prefer full Congressional representation, two seats in the Senate as well as one in the House, but were prepared to push Mr. Davis's bill as a first step.
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