[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 149 (Tuesday, November 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7463-H7464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REDUCING WAITING PERIOD FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPECIAL ELECTIONS

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5702) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to 
reduce the waiting period for holding special elections to fill 
vacancies in the membership of the Council of the District of Columbia, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5702

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. TIMING OF SPECIAL ELECTIONS FOR LOCAL OFFICE IN 
                   DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

       (a) Council.--
       (1) Chairman.--Section 401(b)(3) of the District of 
     Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.01(b)(3), D.C. Official 
     Code) is amended by striking ``one hundred and fourteen 
     days'' and inserting ``seventy days''.
       (2) Members elected from wards.--Section 401(d)(1) of such 
     Act (sec. 1-204.01(d)(1), D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
     striking

[[Page H7464]]

     ``one hundred and fourteen days'' and inserting ``seventy 
     days''.
       (3) Members elected at large.--Section 401(d)(2) of such 
     Act (sec. 1-204.01(d)(2), D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
     striking ``one hundred and fourteen days'' and inserting 
     ``seventy days''.
       (b) Mayor.--Section 421(c)(2) of such Act (sec. 1--
     204.21(c)(2), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking 
     ``one hundred and fourteen days'' and inserting ``seventy 
     days''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
     and (b) shall apply with respect to vacancies occurring on or 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Bilbray) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. I now yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5702, which reduces the 
waiting period for special elections to fill certain vacancies in 
elected positions in the District of Columbia government from 114 to 70 
days. I introduced this measure on July 1, 2010, and the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee ordered the bill reported on September 23.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that, I have to apologize, comes before 
the House. I hope that in the next session of Congress such trivial 
matters--``trivial'' as far as Congress is concerned but of great 
moment to the District of Columbia--no longer have to come before you. 
They come before you because matters involving the structure of the 
District of Columbia are contained in the charter. Although the bill 
before you has been passed by the city council, charter bills have to 
be passed by Congress.
  I don't think anybody cares how many days it takes to fill elected 
positions once a position becomes vacant in a particular city, in this 
case, the District of Columbia. Of course, the residents of the 
District of Columbia care mightily. We had two council members who were 
elected to other positions, and the ward council members' seats were 
vacant for 114 days. We get to the 70 days because that's what the 
council wants. I don't think anyone wants to have vacancies go on for 
very long in a democracy, because that means that these wards would be 
unrepresented in the D.C. council.

                              {time}  1500

  On the other hand, it takes time for people to gear up to run for new 
seats. So the council, in its wisdom, decided to reduce the time in 
half, and I don't think anyone in Congress would want to second-guess 
what a local jurisdiction believes on such a locally based issue. 
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
H.R. 5702.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of the gentlelady from the 
Federal district's proposal. I think that not only does this fall 
within the category of article I, section 8, but I think that it also 
falls into a category that we would be more familiar with, especially 
those of us in California, where you have over 400 cities that have 
these type of regulations regulated by the State legislature, not by 
the city councils, basically limiting how often and when you can move.
  I think it's quite appropriate that we review this and have the final 
say on this, but I think it is appropriate that we modify it as 
proposed by the gentlelady from the Federal district and make sure we 
address this thing appropriately. Just as a State legislature would do 
that for any other city, I think it's appropriate that this body at 
this time make this modification.
  With that, I will again ask for support for the proposal.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. I appreciate the gentleman's remarks, and I certainly 
appreciate his support of the bill. I do want him to know that the Home 
Rule Act does delegate decisions precisely like this to the D.C. 
Government. I believe that the State government analogy is inapposite 
here. I don't think any Member of Congress believes that he or she is 
in a position to revise in any way what the local government would do 
in this regard, and I do believe that this kind of matter does clutter 
the committee calendar. It clutters the calendar of the House of 
Representatives at a time when we have very serious issues. I should 
think we would be looking for matters that have no concern for every 
single Member of this House except me.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5702, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend the District 
of Columbia Home Rule Act to reduce the waiting period for holding 
special elections to fill vacancies in local offices in the District of 
Columbia.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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