On the recordJanuary 5, 2011
On behalf of the tens of thousands of our men and women in military uniform from the U.S. territories, I just ask my good friend, the Honorable Speaker, restore our symbolic vote. That's all we are asking for. Mr. Speaker, the proposed rules by the Republicans for the 112th Congress give unfair treatment to some 5 million Americans residing in the U.S. territories. In particular, it eliminates the rule that allows the Delegates to vote when the House resolves into the Committee of the Whole, and that provides for an automatic revote in the full House when such vote is the deciding margin. The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the Delegate vote on the basis that there is automatic reconsideration of votes in the House when the Delegate vote is decisive. Automatic reconsideration preserves the House proper as the sole arbiter for changes made in the legislation that the House considers. During the three Congresses in which the rule has been in place, the record shows that the Delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole has not in any way hindered the work of the House.
