[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2844 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 233



108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2844

                  [Report No. 108-404, Parts I and II]

 To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the 
 House of Representatives not later than 21 days after the vacancy is 
      announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 
          extraordinary circumstances, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2003

 Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself, Mr. Dreier, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, 
  Mr. Cole, Mr. Chabot, and Mr. Paul) introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on House Administration.

                            December 8, 2003

 Reported from the Committee on House Administration with amendments; 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for a period ending not 
 later than January 31, 2004, for consideration of such provisions of 
    the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that 
               committee pursuant to clause 1(k), rule X
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

                            January 28, 2004

 Additional sponsors: Mr. Conyers, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Cox, 
                             and Mr. Berman

                            January 28, 2004

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with amendments, committed 
  to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and 
                         ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                           in boldface roman]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 
                               24, 2003]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the 
 House of Representatives not later than 21 days after the vacancy is 
      announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 
          extraordinary circumstances, 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 ``Continuity in Representation Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO FILL VACANCIES IN 
              HOUSE IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.

    Section 26 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 
8) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The time'' and inserting ``(a) In 
        General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the time''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Special Rules in Extraordinary Circumstances.--
            ``(1) In general.--In extraordinary circumstances, the 
        executive authority of any State in which a vacancy exists in 
        its representation in the House of Representatives shall issue 
        a writ of election to fill such vacancy by special election.
            ``(2) Timing of special election.--A special election held 
        under this subsection to fill a vacancy shall take place not 
        later than 45 days after the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives announces that the vacancy exists, unless a 
        regularly scheduled general election for the office involved is 
        to be held at any time during the 75-day period which begins on 
        the date of the announcement of the vacancy.
            ``(3) Nominations by parties.--If a special election is to 
        be held under this subsection, not later than 10 days after the 
        Speaker announces that the vacancy exists, the political 
        parties of the State that are authorized to nominate candidates 
        by State law may each nominate one candidate to run in the 
        election.
            ``(4) Extraordinary circumstances.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In this subsection, 
                `extraordinary circumstances' occur when the Speaker of 
                the House of Representatives announces that vacancies 
                in the representation from the States in the House 
                exceed 100.
                    ``(B) Judicial review.--If any action is brought 
                for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge an 
                announcement made under subparagraph (A), the following 
                rules shall apply:
                            ``(i) Not later than 2 days after the 
                        announcement, the action shall be filed in the 
                        United States District Court having 
                        jurisdiction in the district of the Member of 
                        the House of Representatives whose seat has 
                        been announced to be vacant and shall be heard 
                        by a 3-judge court convened pursuant to section 
                        2284 of title 28, United States Code.
                            ``(ii) A copy of the complaint shall be 
                        delivered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(iii) A final decision in the action 
                        shall be made within 3 days of the filing of 
                        such action and shall not be reviewable.
                            ``(iv) The executive authority of the State 
                        that contains the district of the Member of the 
                        House of Representatives whose seat has been 
                        announced to be vacant shall have the right to 
                        intervene either in support of or opposition to 
                        the position of a party to the case regarding 
                        the announcement of such vacancy.''.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continuity in Representation Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO FILL VACANCIES IN 
              HOUSE IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.

    Section 26 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 
8) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The time'' and inserting ``(a) In 
        General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the time''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Special Rules in Extraordinary Circumstances.--
            ``(1) In general.--In extraordinary circumstances, the 
        executive authority of any State in which a vacancy exists in 
        its representation in the House of Representatives shall issue 
        a writ of election to fill such vacancy by special election.
            ``(2) Timing of special election.--A special election held 
        under this subsection to fill a vacancy shall take place not 
        later than 45 days after the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives announces that the vacancy exists, unless a 
        regularly scheduled general election for the office involved is 
        to be held at any time during the 75-day period which begins on 
        the date of the announcement of the vacancy.
            ``(3) Nominations by parties.--If a special election is to 
        be held under this subsection, not later than 10 days after the 
        Speaker announces that the vacancy exists, the political 
        parties of the State that are authorized to nominate candidates 
        by State law may each nominate one candidate to run in the 
        election.
            ``(4) Extraordinary circumstances.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In this subsection, 
                `extraordinary circumstances' occur when the Speaker of 
                the House of Representatives announces that vacancies 
                in the representation from the States in the House 
                exceed 100.
                    ``(B) Judicial review.--If any action is brought 
                for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge an 
                announcement made under subparagraph (A), the following 
                rules shall apply:
                            ``(i) Not later than 2 days after the 
                        announcement, the action shall be filed in the 
                        United States District Court having 
                        jurisdiction in the district of the Member of 
                        the House of Representatives whose seat has 
                        been announced to be vacant and shall be heard 
                        by a 3-judge court convened pursuant to section 
                        2284 of title 28, United States Code.
                            ``(ii) A copy of the complaint shall be 
                        delivered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(iii) A final decision in the action 
                        shall be made within 3 days of the filing of 
                        such action and shall not be reviewable.
                            ``(iv) The executive authority of the State 
                        that contains the district of the Member of the 
                        House of Representatives whose seat has been 
                        announced to be vacant shall have the right to 
                        intervene either in support of or opposition to 
                        the position of a party to the case regarding 
                        the announcement of such vacancy.''.
          Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to require States to 
        hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House of 
        Representatives not later than 45 days after the vacancy is 
        announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 
        extraordinary circumstances, and for other purposes.''.




                                                 Union Calendar No. 233

108th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2844

                  [Report No. 108-404, Parts I and II]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the 
 House of Representatives not later than 21 days after the vacancy is 
      announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 
          extraordinary circumstances, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            January 28, 2004

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with amendments, committed 
  to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and 
                         ordered to be printed