[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 328 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 328

     To provide for the treatment of 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

                            January 9, 2007

 Ms. Norton (for herself and Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide for the treatment of 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 Fair and Equal 
House Voting Rights Act of 2007''.

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 Amendments Relating to Apportionment of Members of 
House of Representatives.--
            (1) Inclusion of single district of columbia member in 
        reapportionment of members among states.--Section 22 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), is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d) This section shall apply with respect to the District of 
Columbia in the same manner as this section applies to a State, except 
that the District of Columbia may not receive more than one Member 
under any reapportionment of Members.''.
            (2) Clarification of determination of number of 
        presidential electors on basis of 23rd amendment.--Section 3 of 
        title 3, United States Code, is amended by striking ``come into 
        office;'' and inserting the following: ``come into office 
        (subject to the twenty-third article of amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States in the case of the District 
        of Columbia);''.

SEC. 4. INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) Permanent Increase in Number of Members.--Effective with 
respect to the One Hundred Tenth Congress and each succeeding Congress, 
the House of Representatives shall be composed of 437 Members, 
including any Members representing the District of Columbia pursuant to 
section 3(a).
    (b) Reapportionment of Members Resulting From Increase.--
            (1) In general.--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)), is amended 
        by striking ``the then existing number of Representatives'' and 
        inserting ``the number of Representatives established with 
        respect to the One Hundred Tenth Congress''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall apply with respect to the regular decennial census 
        conducted for 2010 and each subsequent regular decennial 
        census.
    (c) Transmittal of Revised Apportionment Information by 
President.--
            (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 this Act and 
        the amendments made by 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 
        (other than the District of Columbia) which is entitled to one 
        additional Representative pursuant to this section.

SEC. 5. NONSEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS.

    If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act is 
declared or held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of 
this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be treated and deemed 
invalid and shall have no force or effect of law.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; TIMING OF ELECTIONS.

    (a) In General.--The general election for the additional 
Representative to which the State identified by the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives in the report submitted under section 4(c) is 
entitled for the One Hundred Tenth Congress and the general election 
for the Representative from the District of Columbia for the One 
Hundred Tenth Congress shall be subject to the following requirements:
            (1) Neither election may occur unless the Governor of that 
        State has signed into law a redistricting plan on December 5, 
        2006, which--
                    (A) revises the boundaries of the Congressional 
                districts in the State to take into account the 
                additional Representative to which the State is 
                entitled under section 4(c)(2); and
                    (B) remains in effect until the taking effect of 
                the first reapportionment occurring after the regular 
                decennial census conducted for 2010.
            (2) The additional Representative from that State and the 
        other Representatives from that State will be elected pursuant 
        to the redistricting plan enacted by the State in accordance 
        with paragraph (1).
            (3) The additional Representative from that State, the 
        other Representatives from that State, and the Representative 
        from the District of Columbia shall be sworn in and seated as 
        Members of the House of Representatives on the same date.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (a)(3) shall be 
construed to affect the status of any individual who is eligible to be 
sworn in and seated as a Member of the House of Representatives on the 
first day of the One Hundred Tenth Congress on the basis of winning the 
November 2006 general election for that office.
                                 <all>