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Congressman for All Alaska Don Young voted against a bill today that would give Washington, D.C. a full-voting Member of Congress.  H.R. 1905, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007 would allow the lone Delegate from D.C. to vote on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for all votes.  Currently they are only permitted to vote in the Committee of the Whole.  This bill also allows for one Member from Utah to be added as well, bringing the total number of Representatives to 437.

“Giving the District of Columbia voting rights would be unconstitutional,” stated Congressman Young.  “It was decided back in the 1970’s, under Democratic leadership, that the only way D.C. would have full voting representation in Congress, would be by a Constitutional Amendment.  Back then I voted against giving D.C. voting rights, and today I am voting against giving D.C. voting rights.  Trying to bypass that method is purely unconstitutional.  Alaska was a territory before it became a state, and it had delegates, just like our other territories.  If we give D.C. full voting rights, then why not give them to Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa?  They are all territories with Delegates, not Members. 

“As for Utah, the Member would run “at-large” for right now.  So citizens of Utah would get to vote for two Members to the House?  In every other State in the Union, citizens vote for one Member.  All this bill does is give an unfair advantage to certain citizens over others, and as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Alaska as a State, I cannot vote for this bill.  It undermines the foundation of this Nation, and I will not be a part of that.”