[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 2 (Thursday, January 6, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E34]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     SUPPORT OF A RESOLUTION TO PERMIT DELEGATES AND THE RESIDENT 
  COMMISSIONER TO THE CONGRESS TO CAST VOTES IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE 
                 WHOLE HOUSE ON THE STATE OF THE UNION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 6, 2011

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution 
introduced by my good friend and colleague, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer 
of Maryland that would restore the voting rights for the Delegates and 
Resident Commissioner during Committee of the Whole proceedings during 
the 112th Congress.
  As I stated yesterday, the rules for the 112th Congress leave this 
body less transparent and less responsive to our constituents. 
Eliminating the right for Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to 
vote in the Committee of the Whole deprives our constituents with the 
understanding of how we stand on important issues. The fact that our 
vote in the Committee of the Whole is symbolic is further evidence of 
why such a right does not diminish the role of other Members of the 
House of Representatives; in fact, allowing us the right to a symbolic 
vote enhances long-cherished values of this body.
  Moreover, affording us the right to vote in the Committee of the 
Whole ensures that equities of our constituents are covered in 
legislation that is pending or being debated by this body. In June 2009 
the House of Representatives debated and voted on H.R. 2346, the 
Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2009. The bill 
contained language that allowed the transfer of detainees from 
Guantanamo Bay to any of the territories and it did not provide the 
Governor of each respective territory with the right to be notified of 
any such transfer. Our right to vote in the Committee of the Whole 
afforded us the opportunity to raise this matter before the entire body 
and subsequent legislation that contained such transfer prohibition 
language did expressly include the territories. Our right to vote in 
the Committee of the Whole afforded us all the ability to represent the 
interests of our respective territories. Our voice was heard and 
changes were made.
  Many men and women in uniform come from the territories and the 
District of Columbia. Many have sacrificed for our country, and, in 
fact, the per capita rate of deaths for servicemembers from the 
territories is higher than most states. Yet despite the patriotism and 
service that men and women from the territories show, the new 
leadership of the House of Representatives saw it fit to take away one 
of our most basic rights--the right to vote and effectively represent 
the needs of our constituents.
  I also enter into the Record letters the Delegates and the Resident 
Commissioner sent to the leaders requesting an opportunity to address 
this rules change prior to the convening of the 112th Congress. 
Regrettably, the opportunity to address this matter prior to 
yesterday's convening was not presented. Therefore, and based on the 
action taken yesterday, I stand in support of the resolution introduced 
today by Mr. Hoyer and hope that it will be brought to the floor for a 
vote in the near future.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                Washington, DC, December 22, 2010.
     Hon. John A. Boehner,
     Speaker-designate, House of Representatives, The Capitol, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker-designate Boehner: Now that a summary of 
     proposed Rules for the 112th Congress is circulating and we 
     find that the rule enabling the Delegates and Resident 
     Commissioner to vote in the Committee of the Whole is slated 
     for elimination, we write to express our concern and renew 
     our request for a meeting with you to discuss this matter 
     prior to January 5, 2011.
       You will no doubt recall that we wrote last month to urge 
     retention of this rule. We reiterate that this symbolic 
     exercise of our country's democratic principles has great 
     meaning to our more than four million constituents, who fight 
     and die alongside their fellow Americans residing in the 50 
     States to secure the right to vote for people residing in 
     such distant lands as Iraq and Afghanistan.
       While this issue has been viewed through a partisan lens in 
     the past, largely because none of us is a member of the 
     Republican Conference, we respectfully submit that this fact 
     should not be used to preclude us front exercising this most 
     fundamental function of representative democracies, 
     especially through a procedure which by its design can never 
     be determinative of any vote.
       Therefore, we ask that you retain this existing rule in the 
     Rules package your Conference is preparing for adoption on 
     opening day of the 112th Congress. Thank you in advance for 
     your attention to this matter. We look forward to continuing 
     to work with you on behalf of our constituents, your fellow 
     Americans residing in the U.S. territories.
           Sincerely,
     Pedro R. Pierluisi.
     Madeleine Z. Bordallo.
     Eni F.H. Faleomavaega.
     Donna M. Christensen.
     Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
                                  ____



                                Congress of the United States,

                                Washington, DC, November 19, 2010.
     Hon. John A. Boehner,
     Speaker-designate, House of Representatives, The Capitol, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker-designate Boehner: As the Republican 
     Conference prepares its package of proposed House Rules for 
     consideration on the opening day of the 112th Congress, we 
     respectfully urge you to retain the rule that enables the 
     Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote when the 
     House resolves into the Committee of the Whole, and that 
     provides for an automatic revote in the full House when the 
     votes of the Delegates or the Resident Commissioner are 
     decisive.
       This rule has been found to pass constitutional muster by 
     the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. See 
     Michel v. Anderson, 14 F.3d 623 (D.C. Cir. 1994). It has not 
     impeded the work of the House during the three Congresses in 
     which it has been in place: the 103rd Congress (1993-1994), 
     the 110th Congress (2007-2008), and the current 111th 
     Congress (2010-2011), The rule has been carefully crafted to 
     allow the Majority to decide when it is appropriate for 
     legislation to be considered in the Committee of the Whole 
     and, more specifically, to be subject to delegate voting. 
     Therefore, if the Majority determines that a particular bill 
     is better considered without delegate voting, the Rules 
     Committee can report a rule that provides for voting to be 
     structured accordingly--as occurred in several instances 
     during the 110th and 111th Congresses. We deeply appreciate 
     that your Conference did not seek to repeal or otherwise 
     alter this rule when the Ranking Republican Member of the 
     Rules Committee offered his Motion to Commit with 
     instructions at the start of the 111th Congress. We hope that 
     your proposed Rules package for the 112th Congress will be 
     consistent with that prior position.
       There are compelling reasons to retain the rule. First, we 
     know that your Conference, like our Caucus, values and seeks 
     to promote open and transparent government. Our constituents 
     can more effectively hold us accountable if there is a record 
     of how we vote on legislation considered by the House. 
     Although we recognize that the vote conferred upon us by this 
     rule is essentially symbolic, it has genuine meaning for 
     those we represent. The rule obligates us to take public 
     positions on issues of national importance that will affect 
     the lives of our constituents. This enables our constituents 
     to better evaluate the quality of our representation.
       In addition, we believe this is an issue of fundamental 
     fairness with profound moral implications. Our constituents 
     are part of the American family. They pledge allegiance to 
     the same flag and serve alongside their fellow countrymen in 
     our nation's armed forces. To deprive their duly elected 
     representatives of this small privilege, which does no harm 
     to this institution, would send a message of exclusion to 
     Americans living in the territories and in the District of 
     Columbia. We implore you not to send that message.
           Sincerely,
     Pedro R. Pierluisi.
     Madeleine Z. Bordallo.
     Eni F.H. Faleomavaega.
     Donna M. Christensen.
     Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.

                          ____________________