District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007
Floor Speech
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 2007
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Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding to me.
Today, we are considering a bill that will bring democracy to the District of Columbia. This bill will grant the District of Columbia a full vote in the House of Representatives. They have been denied full representation in Congress for over 200 years, and this will help right this long-standing injustice.
But I want to use my time to point out that there have been two champions of this legislation who deserve recognition. One is Congresswoman Norton who has been working tirelessly on behalf of her constituents to forge a compromise that has bipartisan support; and the second is the ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and its former Chair, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).
Last year as chairman of our committee, he led the charge for voting rights for the District. It was his inspiration that brought this compromise to the point now where I expect this bill will pass the House of Representatives and go on its way to the other body. This is a bill that is long overdue. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this bill.
H.R. 1433, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007, will grant the District of Columbia a full vote in the House of Representatives.
District of Columbia residents have been denied full representation in Congress for over 200 years. District residents pay billions of dollars in federal taxes yet get no vote in Congress. This bill will help right this longstanding injustice.
There have been two champions of this legislation who deserve recognition. One is Congresswoman Norton, who has worked tirelessly on behalf of her constituents to forge a compromise that has bipartisan support. The second is the Ranking Minority Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Representative Davis. Last year, as Chairman of the Committee, he led the charge for voting rights for the District.
The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act includes a number of important provisions.
This bill will increase the size of the House by two seats. One of those seats will go to the District of Columbia and the other seat will go Utah, the next state in line to get a congressional seat. The bill prevents partisan gerrymandering by creating the new seat for Utah as an at-large seat and by ensuring that Utah does not redistrict its other congressional seats until apportionment is conducted following the 2010 census.
H.R. 1433 also contains a nonseverability clause providing that if a court holds one section of this bill invalid or unenforceable, all other sections will be invalid or unenforceable. This is an important safeguard because it means that no section of this legislation can have legal effect unless the entire bill has legal effect. Under this legislation, Utah cannot be granted a seat in the House without the District also being granted a seat or vice versa.
H.R. 1433 is a step in the right direction toward providing the residents of the District fair representation in Congress. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
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