District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007

Floor Speech

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 2007

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President. I rise to speak in support of S. 1257, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007. It is a measure introduced by Senator Lieberman and Senator Hatch and favorably reported by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

After carefully considering the constitutional issues, I have come to believe, on balance, that S. 1257 is a legitimate mechanism for providing voting representation in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 600,000 Americans who live in the District of Columbia--citizens who serve in the Armed Forces, pay Federal taxes, participate in Federal programs, and support a local government overseen by Congress--yet who cannot choose a representative with voting rights for the House that meets in their midst.

S. 1257 would also correct an inequity affecting the State of Utah. That State fell just short of qualifying for an additional House seat in the last apportionment--a margin that likely would have disappeared had the census counted the thousands of Mormons who were out of State performing their religious duty as missionaries.

As the Senate considers this legislation, much hinges on our view of the powers assigned, and the rights protected, by our Constitution. Those powers and rights were discussed at length in the May 15 hearing that our committee conducted on this bill.

We heard vigorous debate from legal experts on whether the enclave clause of the Constitution enables Congress to provide voting representation in the House for the District of Columbia--as a corollary of its exclusive power of legislation in Federal enclaves, including the District. We also heard an impassioned argument that the bill would pass constitutional muster purely on its merits as an equal-representation measure consistent with court rulings in civil rights cases.

I recognize that other lawmakers, and some constitutional scholars, have expressed sincere doubts about this measure. For those who have such concerns, the bill now offers a powerful safeguard. During our June markup, the committee adopted my amendment providing for expedited judicial review of this legislation in the event of a legal challenge. Thus, the new law's legitimacy could be determined promptly by our Federal courts.

My colleagues on the committee also adopted an amendment that I proposed concerning the scope and implications of the bill. The text now carries an explicit statement that the District of Columbia shall not be considered a State for purposes of representation in the Senate. This is an important distinction. Our Constitution links House representation to population, but it links Senate representation to statehood. The residents of the District of Columbia are Americans entitled to House representation, but they are not residents of an entity admitted to the Union as a State. The language added by the committee simply clarifies that the bill does not contemplate or provide support for a legislative grant of Senate representation.

The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007 is a carefully crafted measure that provides for speedy review of any legal challenge. The bill's 21 sponsors and cosponsors span the liberal-to-conservative spectrum and includes two independent Senators, as well as Republicans and Democrats--eloquent testimony to the fact that this is not a partisan measure.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 1257, a simple matter of fundamental fairness for American citizens.

Mr. President, I wish to make a final point and say again that there are legitimate arguments about the constitutionality of the measure that is before us, and that is why, when it was before the Homeland Security Committee, I offered an amendment which is incorporated into the bill to allow for expedited judicial review of its constitutionality. I suggest to my colleagues that we should proceed with this measure. If, in fact, it fails on constitutional grounds, that is up to the courts. But today we can stand for an important principle of providing a vote to the residents of the District of Columbia.

I hope my colleagues will allow this bill to go forward, and I urge their support of this measure.

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