[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1085-H1087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPECIAL ELECTION REFORM ACT

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3902) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to revise 
the timing of special elections for local office in the District of 
Columbia, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3902

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Special 
     Election Reform Act''.

     SEC. 2. TIMING OF SPECIAL ELECTIONS FOR LOCAL OFFICE IN 
                   DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

       (a) Council.--
       (1) Chair.--The first sentence of section 401(b)(3) of the 
     District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1 204.01(b)(3), D.C. 
     Official Code) is amended to read as follows: ``To fill a 
     vacancy in the Office of Chairman, the Board of Elections 
     shall hold a special election in the District on the Tuesday 
     occurring at least 70 days and not more than 174 days after 
     the date on which such vacancy occurs which the Board of 
     Elections determines, based on a totality of the 
     circumstances, taking into account, inter alia, cultural and 
     religious holidays and the administrability of the election, 
     will provide the opportunity for the greatest level of voter 
     participation.''.
       (2) Members elected from wards.--The first sentence of 
     section 401(d)(1) of such Act (sec. 1 204.01(d)(1), D.C. 
     Official Code) is amended to read as follows: ``In the event 
     of a vacancy in the Council of a member elected from a ward, 
     the Board of Elections shall hold a special election in the 
     District on the Tuesday occurring at least 70 days and not 
     more than 174 days after the date on which such vacancy 
     occurs which the Board of Elections determines, based on a 
     totality of the circumstances, taking into account, inter 
     alia, cultural and religious holidays and the 
     administrability of the election, will provide the 
     opportunity for the greatest level of voter participation.''.

[[Page H1086]]

       (3) Members elected at-large.--The second sentence of 
     section 401(d)(2) of such Act (sec. 1 204.01(d)(2)) is 
     amended by striking ``and such special election'' and all 
     that follows and inserting the following: ``and such special 
     election shall be held on the Tuesday occurring at least 70 
     days and not more than 174 days after the date on which such 
     vacancy occurs which the Board of Elections determines, based 
     on a totality of the circumstances, taking into account, 
     inter alia, cultural and religious holidays and the 
     administrability of the election, will provide the 
     opportunity for the greatest level of voter participation.''.
       (b) Mayor.--The first sentence of section 421(c)(2) of such 
     Act (sec. 1 204.21.(c)(2), D.C. Official Code) is amended to 
     read as follows: ``To fill a vacancy in the Office of Mayor, 
     the Board of Elections shall hold a special election in the 
     District on the Tuesday occurring at least 70 days and not 
     more than 174 days after the date on which such vacancy 
     occurs which the Board of Elections determines, based on a 
     totality of the circumstances, taking into account, inter 
     alia, cultural and religious holidays and the 
     administrability of the election, will provide the 
     opportunity for the greatest level of voter participation.''.
       (c) Attorney General.--The first sentence of section 
     435(b)(1) of such Act (sec. 1 204.35(b)(1), D.C. Official 
     Code) is amended by striking ``the Board'' and all that 
     follows and inserting the following: ``the Board of Elections 
     shall hold a special election in the District on the Tuesday 
     occurring at least 70 days and not more than 174 days after 
     the date on which such vacancy occurs which the Board of 
     Elections determines, based on a totality of the 
     circumstances, taking into account, inter alia, cultural and 
     religious holidays and the administrability of the election, 
     will provide the opportunity for the greatest level of voter 
     participation.''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by section 2 shall apply with respect 
     to vacancies occurring on or after the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia 
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I'll be brief.
  Today we're doing a small and technical change to everyone except the 
people of the District of Columbia, who consistently have to live under 
a rule that costs the voters and the residents of the District of 
Columbia to expend enormous additional dollars to have special 
elections rather than having the ordinary flexibility to try to combine 
their votes at a time in which it would be less expensive.
  The bill, which is, if you will, an omission under the Home Rule Act, 
provides for the District of Columbia to fill vacancies on the first 
Tuesday 114 days after the date of such vacancy occurring. 
Unfortunately, this does not provide the flexibility necessary to time 
special elections concurrently with other general and primary 
elections. Therefore, this small--and yet not small to the District of 
Columbia--change will allow them to place the election on a Tuesday 
occurring between 70 and 174 days of the vacancy. Understand, Mr. 
Speaker, if there is an ordinary election occurring within that 
process, this will cause us to have the election on that date.
  The bill has been carefully considered and passed unanimously by the 
committee. Additionally, it's supported by the entire city council--
we'll soon hear from the delegate from the District of Columbia--by the 
Mayor and his administration.
  I want to take just a quick moment to thank the gentlelady from the 
District of Columbia. It has been, in fact, her work with the committee 
that made this technical change one that we can all live with for the 
benefit of the people who host us in the Federal city.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. I want to thank the chairman of the full committee for 
his generosity. I want to thank my friends on both sides of the 
committee for their assistance with H.R. 3902, especially the chairman 
of the full committee, my good friend, Mr. Issa, and the chair of the 
subcommittee, Mr. Gowdy, for working closely with us on this bill.
  I also want to thank my good friends on our side, the ranking member 
of the full committee, Mr. Cummings, and the ranking member of the 
subcommittee, Mr. Davis, for their considerable support and assistance.
  Mr. Chairman, like you, I will be brief because you and I are the 
only ones here who have a vote in committee on this matter.
  The District of Columbia Special Election Reform Act is similar to 
the legislation I introduced last Congress, which, with the help of the 
chairman, was passed without objection by the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform and, with his help, quickly got to the 
full House for a vote.
  Final enactment of the bill was prevented not by this House, but by 
an anonymous hold in the Senate, which fortunately no longer allows 
such holds in that Chamber.
  This bill is of great importance to the District of Columbia, 
particularly now that the city council is faced with an example of a 
vacancy that this bill was designed to address--and had the bill been 
passed by the Senate, could have been addressed. However, instead of 
holding the special election that we are now required to hold on April 
3, the day of the city's primary, the District must hold a special 
election on a different day, 1 month after the upcoming primary 
election, at a cost to the city of an additional $318,000.
  Although this bill, therefore, cannot take effect before the upcoming 
special election, the bill will provide the District with the 
flexibility in the future to conduct elections without the redundancy 
of coming to Congress and without unnecessary cost to the city.
  The District of Columbia Special Election Reform Act makes minor 
changes in the District's Home Rule Charter to provide the city greater 
flexibility to conduct special elections for vacancies in the office of 
Mayor, attorney general, council chair, and other members of the 
District of Columbia Council.
  Current law requires that a special election be held on a rigid date, 
the first Tuesday occurring more than 114 days after a vacancy, 
offering the District no flexibility.
  By the way, Mr. Chairman, there were complaints when the District of 
Columbia had a special election some time ago that the election had to 
be held on a religious holiday. The District had to say, We can't do 
anything about it, because it couldn't change the date itself.
  Instead, this bill would establish a range during which a special 
election may be conducted. That range would be between 70 and 174 days, 
giving the District the necessary flexibility to make a special 
election coincide with an already scheduled election, reducing the 
chance the city would have to schedule costly multiple elections or do 
so in too short a time period, and allowing the city to maximize voter 
turnout, for example, by not scheduling the election on a religious 
holiday, and to reduce the time period when residents are without 
representation.
  Mr. Speaker, this noncontroversial bill, which the committee passed 
by voice vote, provides the District with the necessary flexibility for 
holding timely and cost-effective special elections. It involves no 
cost whatsoever to the Federal Government.

                              {time}  1940

  The District of Columbia Special Election Reform Act is of little, 
indeed, no concern, I dare say, to the Congress. But the D.C. Council 
cannot amend the Home Rule Charter which spells out procedures and 
structural matters for setting up the District, so the Mayor and the 
council had to come to me to introduce this local bill.
  Mr. Chairman, you indicated that such bills are not exactly 
congressional material. I hope that you and I can work together on a 
broader D.C. charter reform bill to give the District the authority to 
amend such local matters, such trivial local matters, as far as 
Congress is concerned, on its own, saving Congress from having to spend 
the time, its very valuable time at that, on uniquely local procedural 
matters affecting only the local government, the District of Columbia.
  I urge passage of the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, seeing that there are no further speakers, I 
ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which 
to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on 
the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?

[[Page H1087]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. I reserve the balance of my time, but I am prepared to 
close.
  Ms. NORTON. I thank the chairman again for the haste with which he 
was able to get this bill heard today.
  I have no further speakers, and I am pleased to yield back the 
remainder of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I urge immediate support for this important 
reform for the District of Columbia, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3902, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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