As Republican delegates gather tomorrow in Pittsburgh for the annual meeting of the Republican National Committee, the party faithful have a great deal to be proud of. In just the last week, the GOP-led Congress passed landmark energy legislation, an important highway bill and a free-trade deal with the Central American nations that will level the playing field and create new jobs for Americans.

However, the most exciting thing the GOP is doing is not taking place in domestic or foreign policy: It is the deliberate and protracted efforts by party leaders all over America to re-establish a connection to the African-American community.

This work is most evident in the series of speeches given by new Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman. Time and again, Mehlman has hit home the point that no matter how many times Republicans win the White House, no matter how many seats we win in Congress, the party of Abraham Lincoln will not be whole again until we effectively and forthrightly reconnect with black Americans.

When Republicans speak about reaching out to the black community, the argument generally focuses on areas like improving public schools (through school choice programs and legislation like No Child Left Behind), increasing job opportunities, making home ownership more achievable and the like. And to be sure, there is plenty of common ground among the issues of concern to African Americans and the Republican Party's core principles.

But the Republican Party can -- and should -- do more. In the last 150 years, black Americans' struggle for equality has focused not only on economic and educational issues, but also on something basic to our democracy: voting rights.

What if there was a way for Republicans to take the lead in advancing voting rights that would serve not only as a gesture of good faith to the African-American community, but would meaningfully franchise hundreds of thousands of people? In fact, there is -- by supporting my proposal to give the citizens of the District of Columbia a full voting representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Legislation I have introduced this year, the D.C. Fairness in Representation Act, would correct the anomaly that exists today, in which the 550,000 (mostly African-American) residents of the nation's capital pay federal taxes, fight and die in the armed forces, yet have no direct representation in Congress. We are fighting for democracy in Baghdad and Kabul, but have seemingly forgotten the disenfranchised citizens of our own capital.

The D.C. FAIR Act achieves this quite simply. It would temporarily increase the size of the House of Representatives by two, to 437. One seat would go to the District of Columbia, and the other to Utah, which fell just 86 people short of gaining another House seat in the 2000 Census.

The beauty of this solution is its political neutrality. No place in America is more Democratic than the District of Columbia, and no state gave President Bush a larger percentage of the vote than Utah. The end result is the addition of one Republican and one Democrat -- neither party gains any advantage.

After the 2010 Census, D.C. would keep its seat, the House would revert back to 435 members, and the other seats would be divided among the 50 states.

The Founding Fathers were right to create a federal district separate from the 50 states. But I -- and more than a dozen colleagues who are already supporting the D.C. FAIR legislation -- believe we can retain the federal district and grant representation to the citizens who live there. Included among this bipartisan group are four Pennsylvanians: Reps. Chaka Fattah, D-Philadelphia; Phil English, R-Erie; Todd Platts, R-York; and Charles Dent, R-Allentown.

I am pleased that this legislation will be discussed at the party's convention on Saturday, because it represents a golden chance for Republicans to take the reins of an issue that Democrats talk about, but have offered no feasible solutions. It is a chance for Republicans to prove we are willing to creatively look for solutions to issues African Americans care about.

For the first 100 years of this party's history we enjoyed strong support in the African-American community. I believe we can do so again. But we will not succeed solely by reminding black Americans how much their concerns are like everyone else's. Supporting legislation like the D.C. FAIR Act would demonstrate that the GOP understands how distinctive they are as well.