Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bills under this rule, and, in particular, to the so-called Equal Representation Act. I filed an amendment to this bill with Representative Cleaver to ensure that the Census not only fully counts the U.S. population but that it counts it accurately. When the Census occurs, incarcerated people are counted as residents of the towns where they are imprisoned rather than the places they call home. This practice tends to reduce the population in urban areas, where most prisoners are from, and inflate the populations of rural areas, where most prisons are located. Ultimately, prison gerrymandering creates a gross inequity of representation at the expense of urban areas and communities of color. The over 1 million incarcerated people in the United States are being used as pawns to falsely increase the voting power of areas that do not represent their interests. My amendment, which was blocked from reaching the floor, would have required the Census Bureau to count incarcerated people at their last place of residence. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject the so-called Equal Representation Act and instead support efforts to end prison gerrymandering.”