Permitting Delegates And The Resident Commissioner To Cast Votes In The Committee Of The Whole

PERMITTING DELEGATES AND THE RESIDENT COMMISSIONER TO CAST VOTES IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE -- (House of Representatives - January 24, 2007)

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Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, we are here today to consider the Democrat leadership's proposed change to the current House practices to provide Delegates from U.S. territories with representation without taxation.

The Democrat leadership, in a political effort to pad votes, is willing to trample on the Constitution by allowing these Delegates to cast votes on amendments that could affect taxpayers across the United States of America without requiring that these residents pay taxes into the United States Treasury. According to a 2000 census, American Samoa had 60,000 residents, about one-tenth the size of an average congressional district. This too undermines the fundamental constitutional provision and principle of one man, one vote.

I encourage all of my colleagues to oppose this bad policy and political effort by the Democrat leadership and majority to extend representation without taxation to nontaxpayers and to dilute the votes of the American taxpayers in the United States House of Representatives.

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