I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4640

To establish the District of Columbia as a Congressional district for purposes 

of representation in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 22, 2004

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. CANNON, Mr. 

BISHOP of Utah, and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 

Committee on Government Reform, 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 the District of Columbia as a Congressional 

district for purposes of representation in the House of 

Representatives, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 

5 Fairness in Representation Act’’ . 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Over half a million people living in the Dis2 trict of Columbia, the capital of our democratic Na3 tion, lack direct voting representation in the United 

4 States Senate and House of Representatives. 

5 (2) District of Columbia residents have fought 

6 and died to defend our democracy in every war since 

7 the War of Independence. 

8 (3) District of Columbia residents pay billions 

9 of dollars in Federal taxes each year. 

10 (4) Our Nation is founded on the principles of 

11 ‘‘one person, one vote’’ and ‘‘government by the con12 sent of the governed’’. 

13 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS CON14 GRESSIONAL DISTRICT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi16 sion of law, the District of Columbia shall be considered 

17 a Congressional district for purposes of representation in 

18 the House of Representatives. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT REGARDING APPLI20 CATION OF METHOD OF EQUAL PROPORTIONS IN APPOR21 TIONMENT OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Section 

22 2(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for appor23 tioning Representatives in Congress among the several 

24 States by the equal proportion method’’, approved Novem-
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1 ber 15, 1941 (2 U.S.C. 2b), is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

2 the District of Columbia’’ after ‘‘no State’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS REGARDING AP4 POINTMENTS TO SERVICE ACADEMIES.—

5 (1) UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY.—Sec6 tion 4342 of title 10, United States Code, is amend7 ed—

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para9 graph (5); and 

10 (B) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the Dis11 trict of Columbia,’’. 

12 (2) UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY.—Such 

13 title is amended—

14 (A) in section 6954(a), by striking para15 graph (5); and 

16 (B) in section 6958(b), by striking ‘‘the 

17 District of Columbia,’’. 

18 (3) UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY.—

19 Section 9342 of title 10, United States Code, is 

20 amended—

21 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para22 graph (5); and 

23 (B) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the Dis24 trict of Columbia,’’. 
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend2 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to the 

3 One Hundred Ninth Congress and each succeeding Con4 gress. 

5 SEC. 4. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN APPORTIONMENT OF 

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective January 3, 2005, and 

8 until the taking effect of the first reapportionment occur9 ring after the regular decennial census conducted for 

10 2010—

11 (1) the membership of the House of Represent12 atives shall be increased by 2 members; 

13 (2) each such Representative shall be in addi14 tion to the membership of the House of Representa15 tives as now prescribed by law; and 

16 (3) the State identified by the Clerk of the 

17 House of Representatives in the report submitted 

18 under subsection (b) shall be entitled to one addi19 tional Representative. 

20 (b) TRANSMITTAL OF REVISED APPORTIONMENT IN21 FORMATION BY PRESIDENT AND CLERK.—

22 (1) STATEMENT OF APPORTIONMENT BY PRESI23 DENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit 

25 to Congress a revised version of the most recent 
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1 statement of apportionment submitted under section 

2 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

3 fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to 

4 provide for apportionment of Representatives in 

5 Congress’’, approved June 28, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 

6 2a(a)), to take into account the provisions of this 

7 Act. 

8 (2) REPORT BY CLERK.— Not later than 15 

9 calendar days after receiving the revised version of 

10 the statement of apportionment under paragraph 

11 (1), the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in 

12 accordance with section 22(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

13 2a(b)), shall send to the executive of each State a 

14 certificate of the number of Representatives to which 

15 such State is entitled under section 22 of such Act, 

16 and shall submit a report to the Speaker of the 

17 House of Representatives identifying the State enti18 tled to one additional Representative pursuant to 

19 this section. 

20 (c) INCREASE NOT COUNTED AGAINST TOTAL NUM21 BER OF MEMBERS.—The temporary increase in the mem22 bership of the House of Representatives provided under 

23 subsection (a) shall not—

24 (1) operate to either increase or decrease the 

25 permanent membership of the House of Representa-
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1 tives as prescribed in the Act of August 8, 1911 (2 

2 U.S.C. 2); 

3 (2) affect the basis of reapportionment estab4 lished by the Act of June 28, 1929, as amended (2 

5 U.S.C. 2a), for the Eighty Second Congress and 

6 each Congress thereafter; or 

7 (3) be taken into account in determining the 

8 number of electors under section 3 of title 3, United 

9 States Code, with respect to the 2004 Presidential 

10 election. 

11 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF OFFICE OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

12 DELEGATE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 202 and 204 of the Dis14 trict of Columbia Delegate Act (Public Law 91–405; sec15 tions 1–401 and 1–402, D.C. Official Code) are repealed, 

16 and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such 

17 sections are restored or revived as if such sections had 

18 not been enacted. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO DISTRICT OF CO20 LUMBIA ELECTIONS CODE OF 1955.—The District of Co21 lumbia Elections Code of 1955 is amended—

22 (1) in section 1 (sec. 1–1001.01, D.C. Official 

23 Code), by striking ‘‘the Delegate to the House of 

24 Representatives’’; 
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1 (2) in section 2 (sec. 1–1001.02, D.C. Official 

2 Code)—

3 (A) by striking paragraph (6), and 

4 (B) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘the 

5 Delegate to Congress for the District of Colum6 bia’’; 

7 (3) in section 8 (sec. 1–1001.08, D.C. Official 

8 Code)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘Delegate’’ in the heading, 

10 and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘Delegate,’’ each place it 

12 appears in subsections (h)(1)(A), (i)(1), and 

13 (j)(1); 

14 (4) in section 10 (sec. 1–1001.10, D.C. Official 

15 Code)—

16 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) of sub17 section (a)(3), and 

18 (B) in subsection (d)—

19 (i) by striking ‘‘Delegate,’’ each place 

20 it appears in paragraph (1), and 

21 (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and re22 designating paragraph (3) as paragraph 

23 (2); 

24 (5) in section 15(b) (sec. 1–1001.15(b), D.C. 

25 Official Code), by striking ‘‘Delegate,’’; and 
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1 (6) in section 17(a) (sec. 1–1001.17(a), D.C. 

2 Official Code), by striking ‘‘except the Delegate to 

3 the Congress from the District of Columbia’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 

6 during 2004 and any succeeding year. 

7 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF OFFICE OF STATEHOOD REPRESENTA8 TIVE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the District of Co10 lumbia Statehood Constitutional Convention Initiative of 

11 1979 (sec. 1–123, D.C. Official Code) is amended as fol12 lows: 

13 (1) By striking ‘‘offices of Senator and Rep14 resentative’’ each place it appears in subsection (d) 

15 and inserting ‘‘office of Senator’’. 

16 (2) In subsection (d)(2)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘a Representative or’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘the Representative or’’; 

19 and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘Representative shall be 

21 elected for a 2-year term and each’’. 

22 (3) In subsection (d)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘and 1 

23 United States Representative’’. 

24 (4) By striking ‘‘Representative or’’ each place 

25 it appears in subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h). 
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1 (5) By striking ‘‘Representative’s or’’ each 

2 place it appears in subsections (g) and (h). 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

4 (1) STATEHOOD COMMISSION.—Section 6 of 

5 such Initiative (sec. 1–125, D.C. Official Code) is 

6 amended—

7 (A) in subsection (a)—

8 (i) by striking ‘‘27 voting members’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘26 voting members’’, 

10 (ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

11 paragraph (5); and 

12 (iii) by striking paragraph (6) and re13 designating paragraph (7) as paragraph 

14 (6); and 

15 (B) in subsection (a–1)(1), by striking sub16 paragraph (H). 

17 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 Section 8 of such Initiative (sec. 1–127, D.C. Offi19 cial Code) is amended by striking ‘‘and House’’. 

20 (3) APPLICATION OF HONORARIA LIMITA21 TIONS.—Section 4 of D.C. Law 8–135 (sec. 1–131, 

22 D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking ‘‘or Rep23 resentative’’ each place it appears. 

24 (4) APPLICATION OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE

25 LAWS.—Section 3 of the Statehood Convention Pro-
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1 cedural Amendments Act of 1982 (sec. 1–135, D.C. 

2 Official Code) is amended by striking ‘‘and United 

3 States Representative’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 

6 during 2004 and any succeeding year. 

7 SEC. 7. NONSEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS. 

8 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

9 by this Act is held invalid, the remaining provisions of this 

10 Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be treated 

11 as invalid.

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