Post by bot on Dec 25, 2016 19:32:28 GMT -5
Hoyer Sends Letter to House Rules Chairman Sessions Requesting Delegate Voting in the 115th Congress
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) sent a letter today to House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) asking that the Delegates from the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, be allowed to cast votes in the Committee of the Whole House, which considers amendments to legislation being considered on the House Floor. When Democrats were in the Majority, in the 110th and 111th Congresses (2007-2011), such votes were permitted.
"As you know, we treat House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner for almost all purposes the same as we treat all other Members," Whip Hoyer wrote. "The extension of the right to vote in the Committee of the Whole shows them a respect for their status and for the people they represent. I believe this action is both worthy of our great democracy and required by our commitment to representative government."
To read the full letter, click here or see below.
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December 19, 2016
The Honorable Pete Sessions
Chairman, House Committee on Rules
U.S. House of Representatives
H-312, the Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Sessions:
I am writing to urge you and the rest of the House Republican leadership to recommend extending voting privileges for House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union when the House considers its rules package for the 115th Congress.
As you will recall, early in the 110th Congress, the House adopted a House rules provision granting House Delegates representing the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, as well as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, the privilege to cast a vote in the Committee of the Whole. This provision carried over into the 111th Congress, when it was also applied to the new House Delegate representing the Northern Mariana Islands.
I was the lead sponsor of the House resolution that the House adopted on January 24, 2007 permitting Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to cast votes in the Committee of the Whole. The provision was identical to the one that existed in the 103rd Congress, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in 1994 was constitutional.
To ensure that the provision complies with Article I of the U.S. Constitution, in the event that a matter before the Committee of the Whole is decided by the margin of the votes cast by the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, the provision requires an automatic re-vote in the full House in which Delegates and the Resident Commissioner may not participate.
Two reasons justify granting House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner the privilege to vote in the Committee of the Whole, and should persuade even those among our House colleagues who staunchly maintain that, without exception, Delegates and the Resident Commissioner should not be granted the privilege to vote on questions before the House.
First, the Committee of the Whole is the functional equivalent of regular House committees. In both instances, the function of these committees is to expedite consideration of bills and amendments while ensuring that debate is fair to both sides of the aisle. Since House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner have had the right to vote in House committees since 1971, it stands to reason that they should also have the right to cast a vote in the Committee of the Whole.
Second, House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner are elected by constituents, just as all House members are, and collectively represent almost 5 million people. Furnishing Delegates and the Resident Commissioner the opportunity to express, for the record, their positions on issues of significance that are before the Committee of the Whole strengthens the ability of the electorates in the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories and possessions to hold their representatives to account at election time.
As you begin the process of drafting House rules for the 115th Congress, I strongly urge you, as Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to include in the proposed package of rules that the House will debate and adopt on opening day a provision restoring the privilege of voting in the Committee of the Whole to Delegates and the Resident Commissioner.
As you know, we treat House Delegates and the Resident Commissioner for almost all purposes the same as we treat all other Members. The extension of the right to vote in the Committee of the Whole shows them a respect for their status and for the people they represent. I believe this action is both worthy of our great democracy and required by our commitment to representative government.
Delegate voting is not only constitutional; it improves the legislative process and the degree to which the House of Representatives accurately reflects the 310 million Americans who are subject to the laws it passes. In that sense, every American benefits.
Thank you for your attention and with kindest regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Steny H. Hoyer
c.c. Hon. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House
Hon. Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader
Hon. Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader
Hon. Louise Slaughter, Ranking Member House Committee on Rules
Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate, District of Columbia
Hon. Stacey Plaskett, Delegate, the U.S. Virgin Islands
Hon. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Delagate, Guam
Hon. Aumua Amata Radewagen, Delegate, American Samoa
Hon. Jenniffer Gonzalez, Resident Commissioner-Elect, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Hon. Gregorio Sablan, Delegate, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands