"A travesty."
U.S. Representative Dr. Donna Christian Christensen, the first female physician in the history of the U.S. congress to be elected to the House of Representative, was describing the action by the Republican controlled House to strip six delegates of a key voting right in the chamber.
"It was a sad day for democracy and for the 5 million people of color whose elected representatives lost their voting right through an action of the Republican majority in the House," said Delegate Christensen. "It was significant and regrettable that one of the first acts of the new Republican House was the strip the voting rights of the territorial delegates sent to Capitol Hill by the voters of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Mariana Islands and American Samoa. It's a travesty when you deny elected representatives a vote of such significance."
Actually, what the Republicans did was to use their majority to void a voting right which Democrats have consistently granted to the delegates when they control the House. While the delegates retain the right to vote in various House committees, what was taken away, explained the Virgin Islands delegates and critics on and off Capitol Hill, was the vote in the chamber when it becomes a "Committee of the whole," meaning when the entire chamber is transformed into one large committee to decide crucial legislative measures. However, the territorial delegates and the representative from the District of Columbia don't have a vote when the House is meeting as a chamber.
"It is noticeable that the decision affects mainly people of color," added Dr. Christensen. "It sends a strong message about the attitude of Republicans to people of color, that they would take such swift action on the first day of the new Congress. The Committee of the Whole is a vital part of legislative process and the right to vote gave the delegates an important voice in Congressional deliberations. To lose that right means silencing voters who send their representative to Washington to be a part of our nation's decision-making system."
Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat and Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, who like Dr. Christensen lost his vote, agreed with her.
"By depriving my colleagues and me of our limited vote, the Republican package sends a clear message to our constituents: 'You don't deserve to be heard. You don't count. And you don't matter," was the way he put it.
Interestingly, Puerto Rico, with 4 million people, is the largest single District represented in the House. What's more the people of the territories are all American citizens. But the District of Columbia with a population of more than 600,000 fared the worst.
It pays federal taxes to the U.S. Department of the Treasury but its representative Eleanor Holmes Norton doesn't have a full House vote.
In essence, say critics, the current system and the recent Republican move mean that for the residents of the nation's capital, it is a matter of taxation without representation.
"I believe the voters of the District of Columbia deserve a full vote in the chamber because they pay federal taxes," said Representative Christensen who sits on such committees as Energy, Commerce and Natural Resources.
She is also a member of House sub-committee on Health and Telecommunications. It goes without saying that the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whether Democrats or Republicans, are not happy about this new development," she added. However, she was quick to point out that Republicans have consistently taken away the voting privilege in the Committee of the Whole when they constitute the majority and the Democrats restore it when they take over.
For instance, in 1993, the Democrats gave limited voting rights to Washington D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, but two years later the Republicans took it away.
The Democrats returned the right when they took control four years ago. And shortly after the Republicans stripped it away less than a month ago, Democratic Minority Whip Steny Hoyer introduced legislation to restore it.
"We think the recent decision to strip the delegates of their voting right cannot be justified," said Dr. Christensen, 64, now in her seventh term on Capitol Hill.
