The House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that would give the District its first full-voting representative in Congress by a vote of 241-177, The Washington Post reported.
The vote came nearly a month after the bill's supporters had to temporarily withdraw it from consideration. The move came after Republican members of the House attempted to attach an amendment to the bill that would have overturned the District's gun restriction laws. Democrats rewrote the legislation so the bill's detractors couldn't make a similar attempt when it was returned to the House floor, according to the Post.
Following the vote, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., told the Post she was pleased the House voted in favor of the legislation.
"There was nothing but joy in the chamber this afternoon, because we knew we had given this bill the kind of send-off that can get it through the Senate," Norton said.
The bill faces several obstacles, including a possible filibuster in the Senate, President Bush's threat of a veto and possible court challenges, the Post reported.
