[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 328 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 328
To provide for the treatment of the District of Columbia as a
Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of
Representatives, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2007
Ms. Norton (for herself and Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the treatment of the District of Columbia as a
Congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of
Representatives, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Fair and Equal
House Voting Rights Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Over half a million people living in the District of
Columbia, the capital of our democratic Nation, lack direct
voting representation in the United States Senate and House of
Representatives.
(2) District of Columbia residents have fought and died to
defend our democracy in every war since the War of
Independence.
(3) District of Columbia residents pay billions of dollars
in Federal taxes each year.
(4) Our Nation is founded on the principles of ``one
person, one vote'' and ``government by the consent of the
governed''.
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
District of Columbia shall be considered a Congressional district for
purposes of representation in the House of Representatives.
(b) Conforming Amendments Relating to Apportionment of Members of
House of Representatives.--
(1) Inclusion of single district of columbia member in
reapportionment of members among states.--Section 22 of the Act
entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent
decennial censuses and to provide for apportionment of
Representatives in Congress'', approved June 28, 1929 (2 U.S.C.
2a), is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) This section shall apply with respect to the District of
Columbia in the same manner as this section applies to a State, except
that the District of Columbia may not receive more than one Member
under any reapportionment of Members.''.
(2) Clarification of determination of number of
presidential electors on basis of 23rd amendment.--Section 3 of
title 3, United States Code, is amended by striking ``come into
office;'' and inserting the following: ``come into office
(subject to the twenty-third article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States in the case of the District
of Columbia);''.
SEC. 4. INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) Permanent Increase in Number of Members.--Effective with
respect to the One Hundred Tenth Congress and each succeeding Congress,
the House of Representatives shall be composed of 437 Members,
including any Members representing the District of Columbia pursuant to
section 3(a).
(b) Reapportionment of Members Resulting From Increase.--
(1) In general.--Section 22(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act
to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses
and to provide for apportionment of Representatives in
Congress'', approved June 28, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)), is amended
by striking ``the then existing number of Representatives'' and
inserting ``the number of Representatives established with
respect to the One Hundred Tenth Congress''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall apply with respect to the regular decennial census
conducted for 2010 and each subsequent regular decennial
census.
(c) Transmittal of Revised Apportionment Information by
President.--
(1) Statement of apportionment by president.--Not later
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
President shall transmit to Congress a revised version of the
most recent statement of apportionment submitted under section
22(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth
and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for
apportionment of Representatives in Congress'', approved June
28, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)), to take into account this Act and
the amendments made by this Act.
(2) Report by clerk.--Not later than 15 calendar days after
receiving the revised version of the statement of apportionment
under paragraph (1), the Clerk of the House of Representatives,
in accordance with section 22(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 2a(b)),
shall send to the executive of each State a certificate of the
number of Representatives to which such State is entitled under
section 22 of such Act, and shall submit a report to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives identifying the State
(other than the District of Columbia) which is entitled to one
additional Representative pursuant to this section.
SEC. 5. NONSEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS.
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act is
declared or held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of
this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be treated and deemed
invalid and shall have no force or effect of law.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; TIMING OF ELECTIONS.
(a) In General.--The general election for the additional
Representative to which the State identified by the Clerk of the House
of Representatives in the report submitted under section 4(c) is
entitled for the One Hundred Tenth Congress and the general election
for the Representative from the District of Columbia for the One
Hundred Tenth Congress shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) Neither election may occur unless the Governor of that
State has signed into law a redistricting plan on December 5,
2006, which--
(A) revises the boundaries of the Congressional
districts in the State to take into account the
additional Representative to which the State is
entitled under section 4(c)(2); and
(B) remains in effect until the taking effect of
the first reapportionment occurring after the regular
decennial census conducted for 2010.
(2) The additional Representative from that State and the
other Representatives from that State will be elected pursuant
to the redistricting plan enacted by the State in accordance
with paragraph (1).
(3) The additional Representative from that State, the
other Representatives from that State, and the Representative
from the District of Columbia shall be sworn in and seated as
Members of the House of Representatives on the same date.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (a)(3) shall be
construed to affect the status of any individual who is eligible to be
sworn in and seated as a Member of the House of Representatives on the
first day of the One Hundred Tenth Congress on the basis of winning the
November 2006 general election for that office.
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