[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 283 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 283

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that congressional 
  redistricting should be reformed to remove political gerrymandering.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2017

Mr. Lowenthal (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that congressional 
  redistricting should be reformed to remove political gerrymandering.

Whereas political gerrymandering occurs when politicians draw their own 
        congressional district lines to protect their self-interest at the 
        expense of creating districts that reflect communities of interest;
Whereas political gerrymandering can result in decreased electoral competition 
        between congressional candidates, and in turn decreased responsiveness 
        by Members of Congress to their voters' interests;
Whereas political gerrymandering can be used to split or pack certain 
        demographic and political groups into congressional districts in order 
        to disproportionately diminish their representation in Congress;
Whereas political gerrymandering can be used to protect the majority party and 
        punish the minority party;
Whereas political gerrymandering can decrease Americans' faith and trust in 
        congressional elections;
Whereas political gerrymandering is generally harmful to our democracy;
Whereas many States have taken great strides to ameliorate political 
        gerrymandering, ranging from Hawaii and California to Arizona and Ohio;
Whereas the United States Constitution provides the authority for Congress to 
        regulate elections and redistricting; and
Whereas the Supreme Court has affirmed Congress' authority provided in the 
        United States Constitution to regulate elections and redistricting: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
congressional redistricting should be reformed to remove political 
gerrymandering.
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