Republican Rules will take away Delegate vote

Five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico will lose their right to vote in Committee of the Whole proceedings on the floor of the House of Representatives under rules proposed by the in-coming Republican leadership. The rule permitting non-State representatives to vote was included in House rules by the Democratic majority in 1993, but was lost when Republicans took over in 1995. Democrats reinstituted the Delegate vote in 2007 and for the last four years, non-State representatives have been able to register their constituents’ views on significant legislation such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and health care reform. Delegates and the Resident Commissioner have made their case for continuing to be able to represent the 4 million Americans living in non-State areas of the country and will continue to look for ways to keep the vote. The Rules of the House will be adopted by vote on the first day of the new 112th Congress, Wednesday, January 5th.