U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D) paused the vote for Speaker of the House last Friday to platform an issue of great importance to all five of the U.S. territories: the lack of voting rights for their residents.
“I have a parliamentary inquiry,” she began. “I note that the names of the representatives from the America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia were not called, representing collectively 4 million Americans.” She grew silent as House Democrats, including House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pet Aguilar, and Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Ted Lieu, all of whom were sitting nearby Plaskett, rose to their feet and applauded.
“Mr Speaker, [the U.S. territories and D.C. are home to] collectively the largest per capita of veterans in this country,” she continued. “I ask why they were not called.”
The Acting Clerk of the House answered that “Delegates-elect and the resident commissioner-elect are not qualified to vote.” He referenced the House Rules and Manual.
The Rules explain that “[t]he Speaker is elected by a majority of Members-elect voting by surname.”
Plaskett responded by saying, “This body and this nation has a territories and a colonies problem. What was supposed to be temporary has now effectively become permanent. We must do something about this problem so that these four million Americans –” at this point Plaskett’s microphone was turned off. The remainder of her remarks were drowned out by thunderous applause from Democratic Members of Congress.
The Speaker of the House
The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress. Before a new Congress begins, all the people who will be Members of Congress in the new year — that is, the Members-elect — vote to choose a Speaker. By custom, the clerk calls out the names of all the Members-elect in alphabetical order, and each Member calls out the name of their chosen candidate.
Representative Plaskett noticed that she, as well as the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico and the other territorial delegates, were not called during the vote.
The territories problem
Only the representatives of states are allowed to vote on the House floor. The non-voting delegates, including the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico, can vote only in House committees. Under some administrations, they are allowed a symbolic vote on the floor; however, if their vote affects the outcome, the vote is taken again without them. They actually do not have a meaningful vote on final legislation as passed by the House of Representatives.
This rule reflects the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, Section 2 says, “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States.” However, territorial delegates did not exist at the time the Constitution was written and are not considered part of “the several States” in the Constitution. The positions of delegate and resident commissioner were developed later, as the territories became a part of the American family, and the details of their more limited representation evolved gradually. Delegates were given votes in committees in 1904, but the Constitution has never been expanded to provide U.S. territories with full democratic representation.
Edited on January 7, 2025
Its not like the new PR “Resident Commissioner” Mr Colon would even care!
He is up the anti statehood so-called popular Democrat Party a “populate”.
His job is to antagonize Congress, convince them (especially Republicans) Puerto Ricans are garbage undeserving of statehood. Then he’ll return to Puerto Rico on a visit and tell the anti statehood press “racist Republicans ” opposed statehood. “Populares” caucus with US Democratic Party.
I read her bio and this is her sixth Congressional term. And yet she has done nothing to advance statehood and equal rights for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. If she really wanted equal voting rights for her residents, she would support statehood. But she does not want statehood. The representation she’s talking about is nothing more than her being able to vote in Congress!
I guarantee you after Democrats had held the house this past November she would not have made a spectacle concerning territories. This is nothing more than a stab at the GOP leadership. Funny how Democrats only talk about statehood for territories when they’re in the minority but when they are in the majority they refuse to end the filibuster and get it done. Even Chucky Gargamel Schumer became anti Puerto Rico statehood immediately after 2020 but he was campaigning in favor of statehood in the weeks leading to the election. That’s why so many Florida and Pennsylvania Puerto Ricans defected to the GOP in 2024!