Webb: Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, one of the most respected, powerful and capable leaders in Congress, has suggested a straightforward way to resolve two long-standing injustices. First, the District of Columbia deserves representation in the U.S. House (which represents the people), although not in the Senate (which represents the states, and D.C. is not a state). Second, Utah was literally robbed of a fourth House seat in the last redistricting fiasco.

So Davis is pushing Congress to give D.C. a seat (most certainly Democratic) and Utah an additional seat (most certainly Republican), which would keep the partisan proportions basically status quo.

One more seat in Congress means more clout for Utah. It means more representation on more key committees, more chances to obtain grants and funding, more chances to pass legislation important to Utah and to kill bad projects like the Goshute nuclear waste storage.

Unfortunately, Utah's House delegation has not been united on this issue. Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop have been enthusiastic supporters of Davis' approach. They attended the rollout press conference and signed on as original co-sponsors. Rep. Jim Matheson, by contrast, has been AWOL, mouthing lukewarm support for a fourth seat but doing nothing to help the effort.

Democratic support is needed to get this passed, so Matheson's indifference is hurtful.

Matheson and the Democrats are apparently scared of the Utah Legislature, worried that it would attempt to create four Republican districts. But they haven't sat down with legislative leaders and attempted to work out any sort of agreement.

Legislative leaders tell me that getting a fourth seat is a much higher priority for them than trying to redistrict Matheson out of existence. A number of options are available. The possibility needs to be explored of making the fourth seat an at-large seat, leaving the other three districts as is. Or, the old four-seat plan developed in the last redistricting process could be resurrected, a plan that was pretty favorable to Matheson, as I recall.

With a little negotiation, it wouldn't be hard at all to work this out to everyone's satisfaction. The reality is, Matheson is a popular congressman and capable campaigner who has shown he can win anywhere in Utah. Presently, the GOP/Demo ratio is 66/33. Moving to 75/25 wouldn't be all that bad for Republicans.

Republicans are absolutely right to chide Matheson for his lack of support. Getting a fourth seat ought to be a top priority for everyone, and the Utah delegation must present a united front. Matheson ought to be working to get Democratic votes.