Norton Requests Vote for D.c. On House Floor in Committee of the Whole in 118th Congress

Press Release

Dear Leader McCarthy:

I write to request that the House rules for the 118th Congress permit the District of Columbia's delegate to vote in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, subject to an automatic revote if such vote is decisive. When permitted, the delegate vote has had no adverse impact on the operations of the House or on the majority, but its importance to the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents cannot be overstated.

The delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole is constitutional. Both the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit have held that the delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole is constitutional under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. In Michel v. Anderson, the appeals court noted that the longstanding practice of the House is to allow delegates to vote in standing committees and found that the Committee of the Whole vote was not constitutionally distinct from that practice. The court said, "Suffice it to say that we think that insofar as the rule change bestowed additional authority on the delegates, that additional authority is largely symbolic and is not significantly greater than that which they enjoyed serving and voting on the standing committees." The appeals court specifically considered whether only representatives of the states can constitutionally vote in the Committee of the Whole and concluded that this vote is simply a "minor addition to the office of delegates [that] has [no] constitutional significance."

House rules have permitted the delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole in five Congresses. The automatic revote provision has rarely been triggered. While the delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole has no significance to the work of the House, D.C. residents, as you can imagine, value the vote, however insignificant or symbolic it may seem to others.

D.C. residents, who have fought in every American war, beginning with the Revolutionary War, have always had all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying full federal taxes and serving on federal juries. Indeed, D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and more total federal taxes than 23 states. However, they have been denied voting representation in Congress and full home rule.

I ask that the House grant D.C. residents the modicum of respect the vote in the Committee of the Whole would afford.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

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