CONTENTS Ballard, Frederick A., president, Bar Association of the District of Butler, Miss Sally, director of legislation, General Federation of Chamberlain, Culver, chairman, Suffrage Subcommittee of the Demo- Dalton, John M., president, Junior Chamber of Commerce of Wash- Davis, F. Elwood, chairman, National Representation and D.C. Form of Government Committee of the Washington Board of Trade____ Dunn, Mrs. Milton, former president, District of Columbia Chapter Keating, Hon. Kenneth B., a U.S. Senator from the State of New McKelway, Benjamin M., editor, the Evening Star, Washington, McLaughlin, Hon. Robert, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Morris, E. K., president, District of Columbia Board of Trade___. Newell, Clifford H., representing the Federation of Citizens Associa- tions and Association of Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Co- Randolph, Hon. Jennings, a U.S. Senator from the State of West Vir- Langer, Hon. William, a U.S. Senator from North Dakota.. 5 Keating, Hon. Kenneth B., a U.S. Senator from New York. Mitchell, Clarence, director, Washington bureau, National Associa- EXHIBITS Copy of Senate Joint Resolution 138. Copy of Senate Joint Resolution 60.. Editorial "Golden Opportunity, as printed on September 4, 1959, in the Letter dated September 9, 1959, addressed to Hon. Estes Kefauver, from 6 Letter dated September 8, 1959, addressed to Hon. Estes Kefauver, from Hon. Tom G. Abernethy, a U.S. Congressman from Mississippi. Letter dated March 3, 1959, addressed to Hon. James O. Eastland, from Mrs. Edward B. Morris, secretary, Federation of Citizens Associations Editorial "The Voting Amendment" as printed September 7, 1959, in the Letter dated September 11, 1959, addressed to Hon. Estes Kefauver, from Letter dated September 11, 1959, addressed to Hon. Estes Kefauver, from Morton Gluck, chairman, Home Rule Committee, Washington Chapter, Americans for Democratic Action.. Letter dated September 11, 1959, addressed to Hon. Bernard Fensterwald, A ENFRANCHISEMENT OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1959 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2 p.m., in the Caucus Room, Old Senate Office Building, Senator Estes Kefauver (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senator Kefauver (presiding). Also present: Bernard Fensterwald, counsel; Peter Chumbris, minority counsel; and Kathryn Coulter, clerk. Senator KEFAUVER. The subcommittee will come to order. This is the Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. I have, as chairman of the subcommittee, a brief statement to read before we hear our witnesses. It is my hope that these hearings will result in final adoption by the Senate in the very near future of a constitutional amendment which will, at long last, give a vote to the voteless residents of the Nation's Capital. The short answer to why they should have the vote is: there is no reason under the sun why, as American citizens, they do not have the vote now or why they have not had it for years. I think that there are a number of reasons for optimism. There is no problem-as there so often is of changing an existing provision in the Constitution. The Constitution does not deny a vote to the residents of the District; it simply does not provide for one. Therefore, the appropriate amendment to remedy this situation will be in the nature of an addition rather than an annulment or change. There is no argument that an amendment, rather than a simple bill, is necessary to give effective enfranchisement to the District. The problem of achieving a solution has been greatly simplified by the initiative taken by the three Senators who have long been interested in achieving this goal. I wish to pay tribute to the forethought and diligence of Senators Case, Beall, and Keating in agreeing on a single resolution. The enfranchisement of the U.S. citizens in Alaska and Hawaii (by the granting of statehood to those territories) has left the residents of the District the only voteless American citizens. Granting of statehood to Alaska and Hawaii has dramatized the existence of this last large void in our democratic form of government. The long struggle—going back a hundred years to give a vote to the District has slowly but surely educated the American public to 1 the point where there is little resistance to giving a vote to residents of the District. All of these factors lead me to feel optimistic about succeeding in getting an amendment adopted possibly in the Senate during this session, certainly during this Congress. It is certainly long overdue. I wish to emphasize that there is no conflict between this project and the attempts to get a "home rule" bill passed. This is not an "either/or" proposition. Senate Joint Resolution 138 provides for a vote in Federal elections and representation in the House; it has nothing to do with "home rule." As is well known, I have always been in favor of "home rule." We have passed such bills in the Senate many times. We will continue to work for home rule; this is not a substitute for home rule. Before calling on our distinguished witnesses, I shall order that there be printed at this point in the record a memorandum I have had prepared outlining the history of attempts to pass legislation similar to Senate Joint Resolution 138, along with the text of Senate Joint Resolution 138 and a side-by-side comparison of Senate Joint Resolution 60, Senate Joint Resolution 71, and Senate Joint Resolution 134, from which Senate Joint Resolution 138 was drafted. This memorandum has been prepared by Mr. Fensterwald, counsel of our subcommittee. (The memorandum and other material referred to are as follows:) MEMORANDUM ON HISTORY OF PROPOSALS TO GIVE VOTE TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The constitutional provision establishing the seat of government, was written before anyone knew where that seat of government would be, who would live there, or the size of the area to be ceded by a Sate or States for that purpose. The Constitution omits any reference to the voting status of the people who would occupy, as residents, the seat of government. The significance of the omission became apparent when Congress moved to Washington in 1800. It was the subject of debate in the House as early as December of 1800, and the debate has recurred at intervals ever since. There were proposals to retrocede the District of Columbia to Maryland and Virginia, the lack of voting representation being one source of such proposals. The Virginia portion was retroceded in 1846, the "galling disfranchisement" of its people being referred to in House debate. The idea of amending the Constitution to grant the franchise in national elections was first suggested in 1801. But discussion of the subject was in one sense academic. Until the census of 1880 the population of the District was inadequate under the apportionment of representation accorded a State. The late Senator H. W. Blair of New Hampshire proposed a constitutional amendment in 1888, which would have permitted the District the same number of electors for President and Vice President as it would have representatives in the Congress; and provided one Senator, and one or more Representatives, depending upon population. The resolution was reported adversely by a Senate committee. Hearings before committees of Congress have been held on subsequent proposals as follows: By the Senate District Committee in 1916 and 1921 and by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1941. Hearings were held by the House Judiciary Committee in 1926, 1928, and 1938. A resolution for amending the Constitution was favorably reported from the Senate District Committee in the 67th Congress in 1922 and this report was reaffirmed without further hearing in a subsequent Congress. A comparable resolution was reported from the House Committee on the Judiciary in 1940. Reference is made to the following reports upon similar proposals as follows: Senate Report 507, 67th Congress, 2d session, February 21, 1922. House of Representatives Report 2828, 76th Congress, 3d session, August 5, 1940. Senate Report 646, 77th Congress, 1st session, August 4, 1941. More recently, there was a Senate subcommittee hearing on January 10, 1945 (S.J. Res. 9, 79th Cong., 1st sess.) and May 20, 1954 (S.J. Res. 136, 83d Cong., 2d sess.). This year, during hearings on Senate Joint Resolution 126 (86th Cong., 1st sess.) on August 17 and 27, 1959, there was considerable discussion of Senate Joint Resolution 60, Senate Joint Resolution 71, and Senate Joint Resolution 134. [S.J. Res. 138, 86th Cong., 1st sess.] JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States granting representation in the House of Representatives and in the electoral college to the District of Columbia Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution only if ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress : "ARTICLE "The people of the District constituting the seat of the Government of the United States shall elect, in such manner and under such regulations as the Congress shall provide by law: "Three delegates to the House of Representatives with such powers as the Congress, by law, shall determine; and "A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in the Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State; such electors shall possess the qualifications required by article II of this Constitution; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and cast their ballots as provided by the twelfth article of amendment." [S.J. Res. 60] JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States granting representation in the House of Representatives and in the electoral college to the District of Columbia Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States: "ARTICLE "SECTION 1. In choosing the President and the Vice President of the United States, the people of the District constituting the seat of the Government of the United States shall be entitled to elect, in such manner as the Congress may provide by law, three electors who shall possess the qualifictions required by article II of the Constitution and whose ballots shall be cast and counted as provided by the twelfth article of amendment of the Constitution. "SEC. 2. The people of the District constituting the seat of the Government of the United States shall be entitled to elect, in such manner as the Congress may provide by law, three delegates to the House of Representatives with such powers as the Congress, by law, shall determine. "SEC. 3. (a) The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 66 "(b) All legislation enacted pursuant to this article shall be subject to amendment and repeal. "SEC. 4. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress." |