On the recordNovember 16, 2010
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.
