I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3846 

To establish a National Commission for Independent Redistricting to prepare 

Congressional redistricting plans for all States and to require Congressional redistricting in a State to be conducted in accordance with the 

Commission plan for the State. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2012 

Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a National Commission for Independent Redistricting to prepare Congressional redistricting plans for 

all States and to require Congressional redistricting in 

a State to be conducted in accordance with the Commission plan for the State. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 

2 AUTHORITY. 

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

4 ‘‘National Commission for Independent Redistricting Act 

5 of 2012’’. 

6 (b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author7 ity to establish the terms and conditions in carrying out 

8 Congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 

9 Members of the House of Representatives because— 

10 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar11 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

12 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov13 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

14 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

15 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

16 section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu17 tion gives Congress the power to enact laws to en18 force section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

19 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

20 States according to their number. 

21 TITLE I—NATIONAL COMMIS22 SION FOR INDEPENDENT RE23 DISTRICTING 

24 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

25 There is established in the legislative branch with re26 spect to each regular decennial census (beginning with the 


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1 regular decennial census conducted during 2020) a com2 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission for 

3 Independent Redistricting’’ (hereafter in this Act referred 

4 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

5 SEC. 102. PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF STATE RE6 DISTRICTING PLANS. 

7 (a) PREPARATION OF CONGRESSIONAL REDIS8 TRICTING PLAN FOR EACH STATE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

10 receiving the statement of the number of Represent11 atives to which each State is entitled, as transmitted 

12 to the Commission by the President under section 

13 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

14 fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to 

15 provide for an apportionment of Representatives in 

16 Congress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 

17 2a(a)), as amended by subsection (d), the Commis18 sion shall establish and approve a Congressional re19 districting plan for each State that contains— 

20 (A) a map showing each Congressional dis21 trict established under the plan for the State, 

22 consistent with the criteria described in para23 graph (2); 

24 (B) a detailed statement of the findings 

25 and conclusions of the Commission and the reaVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3846.IH H3846

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1 sons why the adoption of the plan will best 

2 serve the public interest; and 

3 (C) the assumptions, scenarios, and alter4 natives considered in reaching such findings 

5 and conclusions. 

6 (2) CRITERIA CONSIDERED.—The Commission 

7 shall develop the redistricting plan for a State in ac8 cordance with the following criteria: 

9 (A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 

10 vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 

11 under the Constitution of the United States. 

12 (B) To the greatest extent mathematically 

13 possible, ensuring that the population of each 

14 Congressional district in the State does not 

15 vary from the population of any other Congres16 sional district in the State (as determined on 

17 the basis of the total count of persons of the 

18 most recent decennial census conducted by the 

19 Bureau of the Census). 

20 (C) Consistency with any applicable re21 quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

22 and other Federal laws. 

23 (D) To the greatest extent practicable, the 

24 maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 

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1 cluded in the same Congressional district, in the 

2 following order of priority: 

3 (i) The continuity of counties or par4 ishes. 

5 (ii) The continuity of municipalities. 

6 (iii) The continuity of neighborhoods 

7 (as determined on the basis of census 

8 tracts or other relevant information). 

9 (E) To the greatest extent practicable and 

10 consistent with the criteria set forth above, en11 couraging the geographical compactness of dis12 tricts so that nearby population areas are not 

13 bypassed for more distant population areas (in 

14 accordance with such standards as the Commis15 sion may establish). 

16 (F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 

17 (except to the extent necessary to include any 

18 area which is surrounded by a body of water). 

19 (3) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER20 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for a 

21 State, the Commission may not take into consider22 ation any of the following factors, except to the ex23 tent necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act 

24 of 1965: 


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1 (A) The voting history of the population of 

2 a Congressional district, except that the com3 mission may take such history into consider4 ation to the extent necessary to comply with 

5 any law of the State which requires the estab6 lishment of competitive Congressional districts. 

7 (B) The political party affiliation of the 

8 population of a district. 

9 (C) The residence of incumbent Members 

10 of the House of Representatives, or of potential 

11 candidates for the House of Representatives, in 

12 the State. 

13 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND APPROVAL OF PLANS

14 THROUGH TRANSPARENT PROCESS.—In accordance with 

15 section 104, the Commission shall develop interim redis16 tricting plans for a State, and shall develop and approve 

17 a final redistricting plan for a State, through a trans18 parent process that takes into account public comments. 

19 (c) APPROVAL OF PLAN.—The Commission may not 

20 approve a redistricting plan for a State under this section 

21 unless the plan is approved by not fewer than 8 of its 

22 members. 

23 (d) REQUIRING PRESIDENT TO TRANSMIT STATE24 MENT OF NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR STATES.— 

25 Section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 


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1 the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to 

2 provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Con3 gress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)), is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘to the Congress’’ and inserting ‘‘to 

5 the Congress and to the National Commission for Inde6 pendent Redistricting established with respect to the de7 cennial census involved’’. 

8 SEC. 103. MEMBERSHIP. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

11 composed of 14 members, of whom no more than 7 

12 may be members of or affiliated with the same polit13 ical party, who are appointed as follows: 

14 (A) The Speaker of the House of Rep15 resentatives shall appoint 4 members. 

16 (B) The minority leader of the House of 

17 Representatives shall appoint 4 members. 

18 (C) The majority leader of the Senate shall 

19 appoint 3 members. 

20 (D) The minority leader of the Senate 

21 shall appoint 3 members. 

22 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members of the Com23 mission shall be appointed on the basis of relevant 

24 experience, integrity, impartiality, and good judg25 ment and members, subject to the following: 


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1 (A) An individual may not be appointed as 

2 a Member if, at the time of appointment, the 

3 individual is elected or appointed officer or em4 ployee of the Federal Government. 

5 (B) An individual who is appointed as a 

6 Member shall certify in writing, under penalty 

7 of perjury, to each of the officers referred to in 

8 paragraph (1) that the individual shall not seek 

9 election or appointment to any public office 

10 until the expiration of the 3-year period which 

11 begins on the date the Commission terminates. 

12 (3) DEADLINE.—Members of the Commission 

13 shall be appointed by not later than October 1 of the 

14 year in which the regular decennial census is con15 ducted. 

16 (b) CO-CHAIRS.—The Co-Chairs of the Commission 

17 shall be elected from among the members of the Commis18 sion. The Co-Chairs may not be members or affiliated with 

19 the same political party. 

20 (c) TERM OF SERVICE; VACANCIES.—Each Member 

21 shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. A va22 cancy in the Commission shall be filled in the manner in 

23 which the original appointment was made, but shall be 

24 filled not later than 14 days after the vacancy occurs. 


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1 (d) COMPENSATION: TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members 

2 shall each be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic 

3 pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule for each day 

4 (including travel time) during which they are engaged in 

5 the actual performance of duties vested in the Commis6 sion. Each Member shall receive travel expenses, including 

7 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applica8 ble provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

9 5, United States Code. 

10 (e) ADMINISTRATION.— 

11 (1) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH RULES AND

12 REGULATIONS.—The Co-Chairs, in consultation with 

13 the other members of the Commission, shall estab14 lish rules and regulations for the conduct of Com15 mission business, if such rules and regulations are 

16 not inconsistent with this section or other applicable 

17 law. 

18 (2) QUORUM.—Not fewer than 9 members of 

19 the Commission shall constitute a quorum for pur20 poses of voting, meeting, and holding hearings. 

21 (3) MEETINGS.— 

22 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 

23 days after all of the Commission’s members 

24 have been appointed, the Commission shall hold 

25 its first meeting. 


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1 (B) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—After the 

2 first meeting, the Commission shall meet upon 

3 the call of the Co-Chairs. 

4 SEC. 104. TRANSPARENCY. 

5 (a) OPEN MEETINGS AND HEARINGS.—Each meet6 ing and hearing held by the Commission shall be open to 

7 the public, and a notice of the date, time, and location 

8 of the meeting and hearing shall be posted on the Internet 

9 site established and operated under subsection (c). 

10 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND APPROVAL OF PLANS

11 THROUGH PARTICIPATION OF PUBLIC.— 

12 (1) OUTREACH TO PUBLIC.—The Commission 

13 shall establish a public outreach program to notify 

14 members of the public of the work about the Com15 mission and to encourage to the greatest extent 

16 practicable the participation of the public in the de17 velopment and review of redistricting plans. Under 

18 such program, the Commission shall solicit com19 ments from the public for each proposed redis20 tricting plan for a State it develops, and shall take 

21 such comments into consideration prior to devel22 oping any subsequent plan. 

23 (2) FINAL PLAN.—The Commission may not 

24 vote on a final redistricting plan for a State until 

25 the expiration of the 14-day period which begins on 


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1 the date the Commission first makes the plan avail2 able for public comment. 

3 (c) INTERNET.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

5 after all of the Commission’s members have been ap6 pointed, the Commission shall establish and operate 

7 an Internet site through which members of the pub8 lic may obtain the information described in para9 graph (2) and may submit comments to the Com10 mission regarding any of the information posted on 

11 the site. 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—On the Internet site estab13 lished under paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

14 post and continuously updated the following infor15 mation: 

16 (A) A complete and current schedule of 

17 Commission events (including all meetings, 

18 hearings, and forums) and dates relevant to the 

19 development and adoption of redistricting plans 

20 (including periods for members of the public to 

21 submit comments on plans). 

22 (B) Each redistricting plan proposed by 

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1 wide map showing each Congressional district 

2 in a State under the plan. 

3 (C) The most recent available information 

4 from the Bureau of the Census on voting-age 

5 population, voter registration, and voting re6 sults in the State, including precinct-level and 

7 census tract-level data with respect to such in8 formation, as well as detailed maps reflecting 

9 such information. 

10 (D) The records of the Commission which 

11 pertain to the development and adoption of re12 districting plans, including recorded votes taken 

13 on the approval of a plan and any minority or 

14 dissenting opinions written with respect to the 

15 approval or rejection of a plan. 

16 (E) Not later than 14 days prior to the 

17 date of any meeting or hearing of the Commis18 sion, a notice of the date, time, and location of 

19 the meeting or hearing. 

20 (F) Not later than 7 days prior to the date 

21 of any meeting of the Commission, the agenda 

22 for the meeting. 

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1 sion, a transcription and video recording of the 

2 hearing. 

3 (H) Such other information as the Com4 mission is required to make publicly available 

5 under applicable law, and any other information 

6 the Commission may choose to make publicly 

7 available subject to applicable law. 

8 SEC. 105. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT OF STAFF.— 

10 (1) SHARED STAFF.—The Co-Chairs shall joint11 ly appoint an individual to serve as staff director of 

12 the Commission, and may also jointly appoint such 

13 other personnel as may be necessary to enable the 

14 Commission to carry out its functions. 

15 (2) ADDITIONAL STAFF FOR COMMISSION MEM16 BERS.—Each member of the Commission may ap17 point up to 5 additional staff for the Commission. 

18 (3) COVERAGE UNDER CONGRESSIONAL AC19 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.—Any individual ap20 pointed to the staff of the Commission under this 

21 subsection shall be considered a covered employee, 

22 and the Commission shall be considered an employ23 ing office, for purposes of the Congressional Ac24 countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.). 


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1 (b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

2 LAWS.—The staff director and other personnel of the 

3 Commission may be appointed without regard to the provi4 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint5 ments in the competitive service, and may be paid without 

6 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III 

7 of chapter 53 of that title relating to classification and 

8 General Schedule pay rates, except that no individual ap9 pointed under the authority of this section may receive pay 

10 in excess of the annual rate of basic pay for GS–15 of 

11 the General Schedule. 

12 (c) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re13 quest of the Co-Chairs of the Commission, the head of 

14 any Federal department or agency may detail, without re15 imbursement, any of the personnel of that department or 

16 agency to the Commission to assist in carrying out its du17 ties under this title. 

18 SEC. 106. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

19 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission 

20 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear21 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and 

22 receive evidence as the Commission considers appropriate. 

23 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem24 ber or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the 


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1 Commission, take any action which the Commission is au2 thorized to take by this section. 

3 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

4 may secure directly from any agency of the United States 

5 information necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. 

6 Upon the request of the Chair of the Commission, the 

7 head of that department or agency shall furnish that infor8 mation to the Commission. 

9 (d) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

10 States mails in the same manner and under the same con11 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

12 States. 

13 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

14 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen15 eral Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reim16 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec17 essary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities 

18 under this Act. 

19 SEC. 107. COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICS GUIDELINES. 

20 (a) COMPLIANCE WITH CODE OF CONDUCT OF

21 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Each member and staff 

22 of the Commission shall certify in writing to each of the 

23 individuals referred to in section 103(a)(1), under penalty 

24 of perjury, that the member or staff agrees to follow rule 


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1 XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

2 (known as the ‘‘Code of Conduct’’). 

3 (b) REPORTS UNDER ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT

4 OF 1978.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

5 for purposes of title I of the Ethics in Government Act 

6 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), each member and staff of the 

7 Commission— 

8 (1) shall be deemed to be an officer or employee 

9 of the Congress (as defined in section 109(13) of 

10 such title); and 

11 (2) shall file any report required to be filed by 

12 such member or such staff (including by virtue of 

13 the application of paragraph (1)) under title I of the 

14 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

15 with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

16 SEC. 108. TERMINATION. 

17 The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the 

18 date of enactment of the Commission plan. 

19 SEC. 109. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as may be necessary to carry out this title. 


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1 TITLE II—REQUIREMENTS FOR 

2 CONGRESSIONAL REDIS3 TRICTING 

4 SEC. 201. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 

5 THROUGH APPROVED STATE PLANS OF COM6 MISSION. 

7 (a) ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION BY CONGRESS.— 

8 After the Commission has approved a redistricting plan 

9 under title I for all States, the Commission shall prepare 

10 and submit to Congress and the President a bill (hereafter 

11 in this title referred to as the ‘‘Commission bill’’), the mat12 ter following the enacting clause of which consists of only 

13 the following: ‘‘That notwithstanding any other provision 

14 of law, each State shall carry out any congressional redis15 tricting required after the regular decennial census con16 ducted in lll only in accordance with the redistricting 

17 plan which was approved for the State with respect to that 

18 census by the National Commission for Independent Re19 districting.’’, with the blank filled in with the year in which 

20 the decennial census was conducted. 

21 (b) EXISTING DISTRICTS UNCHANGED UNTIL EN22 ACTMENT OF COMMISSION BILL.—Until the Commission 

23 bill is enacted, the congressional districts in each State 

24 shall remain in effect. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of the 

2 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and sub3 sequent decennial censuses and to provide for an appor4 tionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved June 

5 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking ‘‘in the 

6 manner provided by the law thereof’’ and inserting: ‘‘in 

7 the manner provided by the National Commission for 

8 Independent Redistricting Act of 2011’’. 

9 SEC. 202. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF COMMISSION 

10 BILL BY CONGRESS. 

11 (a) INTRODUCTION OF COMMISSION BILL.—Upon re12 ceipt by Congress, the Commission bill shall be introduced 

13 within 30 days in the Senate and in the House of Rep14 resentatives by the majority leader of each House of Con15 gress, for himself, the minority leader of each House of 

16 Congress, for himself, or any member of the House des17 ignated by the majority leader or minority leader. If the 

18 Commission bill is not introduced in accordance with the 

19 preceding sentence in either House of Congress, then any 

20 Member of that House may introduce the Commission bill 

21 on any day thereafter. Upon introduction, the Commission 

22 bill shall be referred to the appropriate committees under 

23 subsection (b). 

24 (b) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—A Commission 

25 bill introduced in either House of Congress shall be jointly 


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1 referred to the committee or committees of jurisdiction, 

2 which shall report the bill without any revision and with 

3 a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable recommenda4 tion, or without recommendation, not later than 7 cal5 endar days after the date of introduction of the bill in that 

6 House, or the first day thereafter on which that House 

7 is in session. If any committee fails to report the bill with8 in that period, that committee shall be automatically dis9 charged from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall 

10 be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

11 (c) FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP12 RESENTATIVES.— 

13 (1) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—It shall 

14 be in order, not later than 2 days of session after 

15 the date on which a Commission bill is reported or 

16 discharged from all committees to which it was re17 ferred, for the majority leader of the House of Rep18 resentatives or the majority leader’s designee, to 

19 move to proceed to the consideration of the Commis20 sion bill. It shall also be in order for any Member 

21 of the House of Representatives to move to proceed 

22 to the consideration of the Commission bill at any 

23 time after the conclusion of such 2-day period. All 

24 points of order against the motion are waived. Such 

25 a motion shall not be in order after the House has 


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1 disposed of a motion to proceed on the Commission 

2 bill. The previous question shall be considered as or3 dered on the motion to its adoption without inter4 vening motion. The motion shall not be debatable. A 

5 motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

6 is disposed of shall not be in order. 

7 (2) CONSIDERATION.—The Commission bill 

8 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

9 against the Commission bill and against its consider10 ation are waived. The previous question shall be con11 sidered as ordered on the Commission bill to its pas12 sage without intervening motion except 2 hours of 

13 debate equally divided and controlled by the pro14 ponent and an opponent, and any motion to limit de15 bate. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage of 

16 the Commission bill shall not be in order. 

17 (3) APPEALS.—Appeals from decisions of the 

18 chair relating to the application of the Rules of the 

19 House of Representatives to the procedure relating 

20 to a Commission bill shall be decided without debate. 

21 (4) APPLICATION OF HOUSE RULES.—Except to 

22 the extent specifically provided in paragraph (1), 

23 consideration of a Commission bill shall be governed 

24 by the Rules of the House of Representatives. It 

25 shall not be in order in the House of Representatives 


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1 to consider any Commission bill introduced pursuant 

2 to the provisions of this subsection under a suspen3 sion of the rules pursuant to Clause 1 of House Rule 

4 XV, or under a special rule reported by the Com5 mittee on Rules. 

6 (5) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to the 

7 Commission bill shall be in order in the House of 

8 Representatives. 

9 (6) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—Immediately following 

10 the conclusion of consideration of the Commission 

11 bill, the vote on passage of the Commission bill shall 

12 occur without any intervening action or motion. If 

13 the Commission bill is passed, the Clerk of the 

14 House of Representatives shall cause the bill to be 

15 transmitted to the Senate before the close of the 

16 next day of session of the House. 

17 (d) FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding Rule XXII 

19 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order, 

20 not later than 2 days of session after the date on 

21 which a Commission bill is reported or discharged 

22 from all committees to which it was referred, for the 

23 majority leader of the Senate or the majority lead24 er’s designee to move to proceed to the consideration 

25 of the Commission bill. It shall also be in order for 


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1 any Member of the Senate to move to proceed to the 

2 consideration of the Commission bill at any time 

3 after the conclusion of such 2-day period. A motion 

4 to proceed is in order even though a previous motion 

5 to the same effect has been disagreed to. All points 

6 of order against the motion to proceed to the Com7 mission bill are waived. The motion to proceed is not 

8 debatable. The motion is not subject to a motion to 

9 postpone. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

10 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be 

11 in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration 

12 of the Commission bill is agreed to, the Commission 

13 bill shall remain the unfinished business until dis14 posed of. 

15 (2) DEBATE.—All points of order against the 

16 Commission bill and against consideration of the 

17 Commission bill are waived. Consideration of the 

18 Commission bill and of all debatable motions and 

19 appeals in connection therewith shall not exceed a 

20 total of 100 hours. Debate shall be divided equally 

21 between the majority and minority leaders or their 

22 designees. A motion further to limit debate on the 

23 Commission bill is in order and is not debatable. 

24 Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable for not 

25 to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally between those 


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1 favoring and those opposing the motion or appeal. 

2 All time used for consideration of the Commission 

3 bill, including time used for quorum calls and voting, 

4 shall be counted against the total 100 hours of con5 sideration. 

6 (3) NO AMENDMENTS.—An amendment to the 

7 Commission bill, or a motion to postpone, or a mo8 tion to proceed to the consideration of other busi9 ness, or a motion to recommit the Commission bill, 

10 is not in order. 

11 (4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 

12 shall occur immediately following the conclusion of 

13 the debate on a Commission bill, and a single 

14 quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if re15 quested. 

16 (5) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCEDURE.— 

17 Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 

18 the application of the rules of the Senate, as the 

19 case may be, to the procedure relating to a Commis20 sion bill shall be decided without debate. 

21 (e) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH OTHER

22 HOUSE.— 

23 (1) REFERRAL.—If, before the passage by one 

24 House of a Commission bill of that House, that 

25 House receives from the other House a Commission 


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1 bill, then the Commission bill of the other House 

2 shall not be referred to a committee and shall imme3 diately be placed on the calendar. 

4 (2) PROCEDURE.—If the Senate receives the 

5 Commission bill passed by the House of Representa6 tives before the Senate has voted on passage of the 

7 Commission bill— 

8 (A) the procedure in the Senate shall be 

9 the same as if no Commission bill had been re10 ceived from the House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the vote on passage in the Senate shall 

12 be on the Commission bill of the House of Rep13 resentatives. 

14 (3) TREATMENT OF COMMISSION BILL OF

15 OTHER HOUSE.—If one House fails to introduce or 

16 consider a Commission bill under this section, the 

17 Commission bill of the other House shall be entitled 

18 to expedited floor procedures under this section. 

19 (4) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES IN

20 THE SENATE.—If following passage of the Commis21 sion bill in the Senate, the Senate then receives the 

22 Commission bill from the House of Representatives, 

23 the House-passed Commission bill shall not be de24 batable. The vote on passage of the Commission bill 

25 in the Senate shall be considered to be the vote on 


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1 passage of the Commission bill received from the 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 (5) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the Com4 mission bill, debate on a veto message in the Senate 

5 under this section shall be 1 hour equally divided be6 tween the majority and minority leaders or their des7 ignees. 

8 (f) SUSPENSION.—No motion to suspend the applica9 tion of this section shall be in order in the Senate or in 

10 the House of Representatives. 

11 SEC. 203. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 

12 AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT. 

13 (a) LIMIT.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief 

14 of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for con15 gressional redistricting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 

16 U.S.C. 2c), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘A State which has been redistricted in the manner pro18 vided by law after an apportionment under section 22(a) 

19 of the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth 

20 and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an 

21 apportionment of Representatives in Congress,’ approved 

22 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted 

23 again until after the next apportionment of Representa24 tives under such section, unless a court requires the State 

25 to conduct such subsequent redistricting to comply with 


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1 the Constitution or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 

2 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.)’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact5 ment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 204. NO EFFECT ON REDISTRICTING FOR STATE OR 

7 LOCAL ELECTIONS. 

8 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

9 Act may be construed to affect any procedures a State 

10 or a unit of local government in a State may use to con11 duct redistricting with respect to elections for State or 

12 local offices. 

13 TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 

14 SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 Except as provided in section 203, this Act and the 

16 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

17 any Congressional redistricting which occurs after the reg18 ular decennial census conducted during 2020. 

Æ 


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