[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2043 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2043

 To establish 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

                              May 3, 2005

Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Cannon, 
 Mr. Dent, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Leach, Mr. 
 Moore of Kansas, Mr. Platts, Mr. Porter, Mr. Shays, and Mr. Simmons) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish 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 Fairness in 
Representation Act''.

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 Amendment Regarding Application of Method of Equal 
Proportions in Apportionment of House of Representatives.--Section 2(a) 
of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for apportioning 
Representatives in Congress among the several States by the equal 
proportion method'', approved November 15, 1941 (2 U.S.C. 2b), is 
amended by inserting ``or the District of Columbia'' after ``no 
State''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments Regarding Appointments to Service 
Academies.--
            (1) United states military academy.--Section 4342 of title 
        10, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (5); 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (f), by striking ``the District 
                of Columbia,''.
            (2) United states naval academy.--Such title is amended--
                    (A) in section 6954(a), by striking paragraph (5); 
                and
                    (B) in section 6958(b), by striking ``the District 
                of Columbia,''.
            (3) United states air force academy.--Section 9342 of title 
        10, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (5); 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (f), by striking ``the District 
                of Columbia,''.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section and the amendments made by this 
section shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Tenth Congress and 
each succeeding Congress.

SEC. 4. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN APPORTIONMENT OF HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) In General.--Effective January 3, 2007, and until the taking 
effect of the first reapportionment occurring after the regular 
decennial census conducted for 2010--
            (1) the membership of the House of Representatives shall be 
        increased by 2 members;
            (2) each such Representative shall be in addition to the 
        membership of the House of Representatives as now prescribed by 
        law; and
            (3) the State identified by the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives in the report submitted under subsection (b) 
        shall be entitled to one additional Representative.
    (b) Transmittal of Revised Apportionment Information by President 
and Clerk.--
            (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 the provisions 
        of 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 
        entitled to one additional Representative pursuant to this 
        section.
    (c) Increase not Counted Against Total Number of Members.--The 
temporary increase in the membership of the House of Representatives 
provided under subsection (a) shall not--
            (1) operate to either increase or decrease the permanent 
        membership of the House of Representatives as prescribed in the 
        Act of August 8, 1911 (2 U.S.C. 2);
            (2) affect the basis of reapportionment established by the 
        Act of June 28, 1929, as amended (2 U.S.C. 2a), for the Eighty 
        Second Congress and each Congress thereafter; or
            (3) be taken into account in determining the number of 
        electors under section 3 of title 3, United States Code, with 
        respect to the 2008 Presidential election.

SEC. 5. REPEAL OF OFFICE OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DELEGATE.

    (a) In General.--Sections 202 and 204 of the District of Columbia 
Delegate Act (Public Law 91-405; sections 1-401 and 1-402, D.C. 
Official Code) are repealed, and the provisions of law amended or 
repealed by such sections are restored or revived as if such sections 
had not been enacted.
    (b) Conforming Amendments to District of Columbia Elections Code of 
1955.--The District of Columbia Elections Code of 1955 is amended--
            (1) in section 1 (sec. 1-1001.01, D.C. Official Code), by 
        striking ``the Delegate to the House of Representatives'';
            (2) in section 2 (sec. 1-1001.02, D.C. Official Code)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (6), and
                    (B) in paragraph (13), by striking ``the Delegate 
                to Congress for the District of Columbia'';
            (3) in section 8 (sec. 1-1001.08, D.C. Official Code)--
                    (A) by striking ``Delegate'' in the heading, and
                    (B) by striking ``Delegate,'' each place it appears 
                in subsections (h)(1)(A), (i)(1), and (j)(1);
            (4) in section 10 (sec. 1-1001.10, D.C. Official Code)--
                    (A) by striking subparagraph (A) of subsection 
                (a)(3), and
                    (B) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) by striking ``Delegate,'' each place it 
                        appears in paragraph (1), and
                            (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and 
                        redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2);
            (5) in section 15(b) (sec. 1-1001.15(b), D.C. Official 
        Code), by striking ``Delegate,''; and
            (6) in section 17(a) (sec. 1-1001.17(a), D.C. Official 
        Code), by striking ``except the Delegate to the Congress from 
        the District of Columbia''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to elections occurring during 2006 and any 
succeeding year.

SEC. 6. REPEAL OF OFFICE OF STATEHOOD REPRESENTATIVE.

    (a) In General.--Section 4 of the District of Columbia Statehood 
Constitutional Convention Initiative of 1979 (sec. 1-123, D.C. Official 
Code) is amended as follows:
            (1) By striking ``offices of Senator and Representative'' 
        each place it appears in subsection (d) and inserting ``office 
        of Senator''.
            (2) In subsection (d)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``a Representative or'';
                    (B) by striking ``the Representative or''; and
                    (C) by striking ``Representative shall be elected 
                for a 2-year term and each''.
            (3) In subsection (d)(3)(A), by striking ``and 1 United 
        States Representative''.
            (4) By striking ``Representative or'' each place it appears 
        in subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h).
            (5) By striking ``Representative's or'' each place it 
        appears in subsections (g) and (h).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Statehood commission.--Section 6 of such Initiative 
        (sec. 1-125, D.C. Official Code) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``27 voting members'' and 
                        inserting ``26 voting members'',
                            (ii) by adding ``and'' at the end of 
                        paragraph (5); and
                            (iii) by striking paragraph (6) and 
                        redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (6); 
                        and
                    (B) in subsection (a-1)(1), by striking 
                subparagraph (H).
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--Section 8 of such 
        Initiative (sec. 1-127, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
        striking ``and House''.
            (3) Application of honoraria limitations.--Section 4 of 
        D.C. Law 8-135 (sec. 1-131, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
        striking ``or Representative'' each place it appears.
            (4) Application of campaign finance laws.--Section 3 of the 
        Statehood Convention Procedural Amendments Act of 1982 (sec. 1-
        135, D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking ``and United 
        States Representative''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to elections occurring during 2006 and any 
succeeding year.

SEC. 7. NONSEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS.

    If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act is 
held invalid, the remaining provisions of this Act or any amendment 
made by this Act shall be treated as invalid.
                                 <all>