[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 617 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 617

To provide for full voting representation in Congress for the citizens 
          of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2003

Mr. Lieberman (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Durbin, Ms. 
  Mikulski, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. 
Kerry) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
                to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for full voting representation in Congress for the citizens 
          of the District of Columbia, 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 ``No Taxation Without Representation 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The residents of the District of Columbia are the only 
        Americans who pay Federal income taxes but are denied voting 
        representation in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
            (2) The residents of the District of Columbia suffer the 
        very injustice against which our Founding Fathers fought, 
        because they do not have voting representation as other 
        taxpaying Americans do and are nevertheless required to pay 
        Federal income taxes unlike the Americans who live in the 
        territories.
            (3) The principle of one person, one vote requires that 
        residents of the District of Columbia are afforded full voting 
        representation in the House and the Senate.
            (4) Despite the denial of voting representation, Americans 
        in the Nation's Capital are second among residents of all 
        States in per capita income taxes paid to the Federal 
        Government.
            (5) Unequal voting representation in our representative 
        democracy is inconsistent with the founding principles of the 
        Nation and the strongly held principles of the American people 
        today.

SEC. 3. REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

    For the purposes of congressional representation, the District of 
Columbia, constituting the seat of government of the United States, 
shall be treated as a State, such that its residents shall be entitled 
to elect and be represented by 2 Senators in the United States Senate, 
and as many Representatives in the House of Representatives as a 
similarly populous State would be entitled to under the law.

SEC. 4. ELECTIONS.

    (a) First Elections.--
            (1) Proclamation.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Mayor of the District of Columbia 
        shall issue a proclamation for elections to be held to fill the 
        2 Senate seats and the seat in the House of Representatives to 
        represent the District of Columbia in Congress.
            (2) Manner of elections.--The proclamation of the Mayor of 
        the District of Columbia required by paragraph (1) shall 
        provide for the holding of a primary election and a general 
        election and at such elections the officers to be elected shall 
        be chosen by a popular vote of the residents of the District of 
        Columbia. The manner in which such elections shall be held and 
        the qualification of voters shall be the same as those for 
        local elections, as prescribed by the District of Columbia.
            (3) Classification of senators.--In the first election of 
        Senators from the District of Columbia, the 2 senatorial 
        offices shall be separately identified and designated, and no 
        person may be a candidate for both offices. No such 
        identification or designation of either of the 2 senatorial 
        offices shall refer to or be taken to refer to the terms of 
        such offices, or in any way impair the privilege of the Senate 
        to determine the class to which each of the Senators elected 
        shall be assigned.
    (b) Certification of Election.--The results of an election for the 
Senators and Representative from the District of Columbia shall be 
certified by the Mayor of the District of Columbia in the manner 
required by law. The Senators and Representative elected shall be 
entitled to be admitted to seats in Congress and to all the rights and 
privileges of Senators and Representatives of the States in the 
Congress of the United States.

SEC. 5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERSHIP.

    (a) In General.--Upon the date of enactment of this Act, the 
District of Columbia shall be entitled to 1 Representative until the 
taking effect of the next reapportionment. Such Representative shall be 
in addition to the membership of the House of Representatives as now 
prescribed by law.
    (b) Increase in Membership of House of Representatives.--Upon the 
date of enactment of this Act, the permanent membership of the House of 
Representatives shall increase by 1 seat for the purpose of future 
reapportionment of Representatives.
    (c) Reapportionment.--Upon reapportionment, the District of 
Columbia shall be entitled to as many seats in the House of 
Representatives as a similarly populous State would be entitled to 
under the law.
    (d) District of Columbia Delegate.--Until the first Representative 
from the District of Columbia is seated in the House of 
Representatives, the Delegate in Congress from the District of Columbia 
shall continue to discharge the duties of his or her office.
                                 <all>