Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and
Current Status
Betsy Palmer
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
January 6, 2011
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40555
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Summary
Delegates, representing territories that had not yet achieved statehood, have served in the House
since the late 1700s. In the 20th century, the concept of Delegate grew to include representation of
territories where the United States exercises some degree of control, but which were not expected
to become states.
In the 112th Congress, the U.S. insular areas of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Virgin Islands, and the federal municipality of the District of Columbia are each
represented in Congress by a Delegate to the House of Representatives. In addition, Puerto Rico
is represented by a Resident Commissioner, whose position is treated the same as a Delegate.
This report provides historical background on the development of the position of Delegate to
Congress and on the rights of a Delegate once seated.
The Constitution makes no provision for territorial representation, and early laws providing for
territorial Delegates to Congress did not specify the duties, privileges, and obligations of these
representatives. It was left to the House and the Delegates themselves to define their role. On
January 13, 1795, the House took an important step toward establishing the functions of
Delegates when it appointed James White, the first territorial representative, to membership on a
select committee. In subsequent years, Delegates continued to serve on select committees as well
as on conference committees. The first assignment of a Delegate to standing committee occurred
under a House rule of 1871, which gave Delegates places as additional members on two standing
committees. In these committees, the Delegates exercised the same powers and privileges as they
did in the House; that is, they could debate but not vote.
In the 1970s, Delegates gained the right to be elected to standing committees (in the same manner
as Members of the House) and to exercise in those committees the same powers and privileges as
Members of the House, including the right to vote. Today, Delegates enjoy powers, rights, and
responsibilities identical, in most respects, to those of House Members from the states. Like these
Members, Delegates can speak, introduce bills and resolutions and offer amendments on the
House floor; and they can speak, offer amendments and vote in House committees. Under the
rules for the 112th Congress, Delegates may not vote when the House is meeting as the Committee
of the Whole nor when the House is operating as the House of Representatives.
This report will be updated as events warrant.
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Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Evolution of Territorial Delegates................................................................................................ 1
Northwest Ordinance ............................................................................................................1
First Delegate........................................................................................................................ 2
Unincorporated Territories .................................................................................................... 4
Delegates Rights and Responsibilities ......................................................................................... 6
Committee Assignments and Voting ...................................................................................... 7
Committee of the Whole Voting Rights ............................................................................... 10
Tables
Table 1. Statutes Providing For Territorial Representation in Congress ...................................... 11
Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 12
Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 12
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Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Introduction
The office of territorial delegate predates the Constitution, having been created by the Continental
Congress through the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Constitution itself is silent on the issue
of territorial representation, but this statutory authority was extended under the Constitution, and
territorial Delegates have been a regular part of congressional operations since. Through most of
the 19th century, territorial Delegates represented areas that were ultimately on the way to
statehood.
With U.S. acquisition of overseas territories following the 1898 Spanish-American War, however,
Congress created the post of Resident Commissioner to represent those areas which had, by treaty
or law, a different relationship to the federal government. The office of Resident Commissioner
was used by the Congress to permit representation in the House in only two instances. The
Philippine Islands were represented by two Resident Commissioners until independence was
declared in 1946. Puerto Rico has been represented by a single Resident Commissioner since
1902.1
Following the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to the Union in 1959, Puerto Rico was left as the
only territory represented in Congress. Beginning in the 1970s, however, Congress returned to the
concept of Delegate to provide representation to other territories and the District of Columbia.2
In the 112th Congress, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia are each represented in Congress by a Delegate to the
House of Representatives.3 The Delegates enjoy many, but not all, of the powers and privileges of
House Members from the states.
Evolution of Territorial Delegates
Northwest Ordinance
The office of Delegate—sometimes called “nonvoting Delegate”—dates to the late 1700s, when
territories bound for statehood were granted congressional representation. The Northwest
Ordinance of 1787, which was enacted under the Articles of Confederation in order to establish a
government for the territory northwest of the Ohio River, provided for a territorial Delegate.4
1 CRS Report RL31856, Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, by R. Eric Petersen This report also touches on the
Resident Commissioner from the Philippines.
2 For more on the delegate from the District of Columbia, please see CRS Report RL33824, The Constitutionality of
Awarding the Delegate for the District of Columbia a Vote in the House of Representatives or the Committee of the
Whole, by Kenneth R. Thomas and CRS Report RL33830, District of Columbia Voting Representation in Congress: An
Analysis of Legislative Proposals, by Eugene Boyd.
3 In the case of Puerto Rico, the congressional representative is called a Resident Commissioner. Today, the offices of
Resident Commissioner and Delegate are essentially the same, though the Resident Commissioner is elected to a four-
year term, while Delegates are elected to two-year terms. The term “Delegates” as used in this report, includes the
Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner, unless otherwise noted.
4 “The Northwest Ordinance: An Annotated Text,” in The Northwest Ordinance, 1787, ed. Robert M. Taylor, Jr.
(Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1987), pp. 51-53.
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Earlier, the Ordinance of 1784 had made provision for territorial representation in Congress, but it
had never been put into effect.5
Following ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the first Congress reenacted the Northwest
Ordinance.6 The ordinance specified that the government of the Northwest Territory would
initially consist of a governor and other officials appointed by Congress. According to Section 9,
once the free adult male population in the district7 reached 5,000, qualified voters would be able
to elect representatives from their counties or townships to a house of representatives.8 This
territorial house, together with an appointed legislative council, would elect a Delegate to
Congress. As stated in Section 12 of the Northwest Ordinance:
As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the Council and house assembled in
one room, shall have authority by joint ballot to elect a Delegate to Congress, who shall have
a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary
Government.9
The Delegate’s duties, privileges, and obligations, were otherwise left unspecified.
First Delegate
In 1790, Congress extended all the privileges authorized in the Northwest Ordinance to the
inhabitants of the territory south of the Ohio River and provided that “the government of the said
territory south of the Ohio, shall be similar to that which is now exercised in the territory
northwest of the Ohio.”10
Four years later, the territory south of the Ohio river sent the first territorial Delegate to
Congress.11 On November 11, 1794, James White presented his application to the House of
Representatives for seating in the Third Congress.12 A House committee reported Mr. White’s
application favorably and submitted a resolution to admit him, touching off a wide-ranging
discussion on the House floor about the Delegate’s proper role.13
An immediate question arose as the House considered the issue: Should the Delegate serve in the
House or in the Senate? The Northwest Ordinance, which had been enacted by the unicameral
5 The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, vol. 6 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), p. 615. Still
earlier references to territorial representation in Congress can be found in a 1776 letter from Silas Deane to the Select
Committee of Congress and in Thomas Paine’s Public Good (1780). Ohio in the Time of the Confederation, ed. Archer
Butler Hulbert (Marietta, OH: Marietta Historical Commission, 1918), pp. 1,3,6,12.
6 Act of August 7, 1789, ch. 8, 1 Stat 50-53, The act made some modifications to the original ordinance in order to
adapt it from the government operating under the Articles of Confederacy to that operating under the Constitution.
7 The ordinance established the territory as one district but allowed for subdivision in the future, as expedient. “The
Northwest Ordinance: An Annotated Text,” p. 31.
8 “The Northwest Ordinance: An Annotated Text,” pp. 36-51.
9 Ibid, p. 51.
10 Act of May 26, 1790, ch. 14, 1 Stat 123.
11 The Northwest Territory did not send a delegate to Congress until 1799, when they sent William Henry Harrison,
who later became the ninth President of the United States.
12 Annals of Congress, vol. 4, 3rd Cong., 2nd sess., November 11, 1794, p. 873.
13 Everett S. Brown, “The Territorial Delegate to Congress,” in The Territorial Delegate to Congress and Other Essays
(Ann Arbor, MI: George Wahr Publishing Company, 1950), pp. 4-5.
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Congress under the Articles of Confederation, had only specified a “seat in Congress.” Some
Members of Congress argued that the proper place for Delegate White was the Senate since his
method of election, by the territorial legislature, was similar to that of Senators. Others suggested
that perhaps Mr. White should sit in both chambers. Proposals for seeking Senate concurrence in
the matter of admitting Delegate White and for confining his right of debate to territorial matters
were rejected. On November 18, 1794, the House approved the resolution to admit Delegate
White to a nonvoting seat in that body.14 At least one Delegate has served in every Congress
since, with the single exception of the Fifth Congress (1797-1799).
House floor debate surrounding Delegate White’s taking the oath further revealed House
Members’ various perceptions of his status. Some Members believed that Mr. White should be
required to take the oath. Representative James Madison disagreed. He argued:
The proper definition of Mr. White is to be found in the Laws and Rules of the Constitution.
He is not a member of Congress, therefore, and so cannot be directed to take an oath, unless
he chooses to do it voluntarily.15
Describing Delegate White as “no more than an Envoy to Congress,” Representative William
Smith maintained that it would be “very improper to call on this gentlemen to take such an oath.”
He characterized Mr. White as “not a Representative from, but an Officer deputed by the people
of the Western Territory.” In making the case that it “would be wrong to accept his oath,”
Representative Jonathan Dayton emphasized Mr. White’s lack of voting power: “He is not a
member. He cannot vote, which is the essential part.” Representative Dayton compared Delegate
White’s influence in the House to that of a printer who “may be said to argue and influence, when
he comes to this House, takes notes, and prints them in the newspapers.”16
Ultimately, the House decided that since Mr. White was not a Member, he was not required to
take the oath.17 The decision not to administer the oath to Delegate White, however, did not
become precedential. All Delegates after White have taken the oath.18
Congress also granted, by law, to Mr. White the same franking privileges and compensation as
Members of the House,19 and thus the White case did establish several precedents for the
treatment of future Delegates. In 1802, Congress passed legislation that extended the franking
privilege to, and provided for the compensation of, “any person admitted, or who may hereafter
be admitted to take a seat in Congress, as a delegate.”20 Like Mr. White, all future Delegates
would sit in the House. This practice was written into law in 1817. The law stated, in part:
14 Annals of Congress, vol. 4, 3rd Cong., 2nd sess., November 18, 1794, pp. 884-889.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid., pp. 889-890.
17 Ibid., p. 890.
18 The Act of June 1, 1789, 1 Stat. 23, requires all taking federal office to swear an oath to support the Constitution.
While the law does not specifically include Delegates among those required to take the oath, the law is referenced in
the minutes of the House just before the Speaker administered the oath to the second delegate to appear before the
House, William Henry Harrison. Annals of Congress, December 2, 1799, pp. 187-188.
19 Act of December 3, 1794, ch. 2, 1 Stat. 403-404.
20 Act of February 18, 1802, ch. 5, 2 Stat. 130-131.
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... such delegate shall be elected every second year, for the same term of two years for which
members of the house of representatives of the United States are elected; and in that house
each of the said delegates shall have a seat with a right of debating, but not of voting.21
Subsequent statutes authorizing Delegates also specified service in the House.
The question of what constituted a territory was raised in conjunction with the acquisition and
control of Alaska. While the United States signed the treaty purchasing the land later known as
Alaska in 1867, it was not until 1884 that Congress passed, and the President signed, legislation
creating a form of government for the area.22 Benjamin Harrison, then a Senator from Indiana and
later the 23rd President of the United States, managed the bill on the Senate floor, and noted that
Congress was intentionally not establishing a full territorial government for Alaska. Because of
the limited population in the area, there was not support for establishing a territorial government
of Alaska, he said. The bill explicitly barred the seating of a Delegate from Alaska.
“I want to say to the Senate that we are attempting here some legislation that is sui generis in
some respects in the organization of this great Territory of Alaska. It was not believed that
we should confer upon the few people residing there a full territorial organization. We have
described the Territory as a civil district and have organized it for a government simple in
form.... We have made it simple and inexpensive because we supposed it would better meet
the views of those who feel the necessity for some form of government for Alaska, but do
not believe we should go to the expense of a full Territorial administration.”23
From the 49th Congress forward, bills were introduced regularly to grant Alaska a Delegate, and
in 1906, in the 59th Congress, Congress enacted legislation to do so.24
Congress enacted legislation in 1900 creating a territorial government for the Hawaiian Islands,
which included a provision creating a Delegate from Hawaii.25 There was no floor debate in either
the House or the Senate on including the Delegate provision in the bill.26
Unincorporated Territories
After the U.S. acquisition of overseas territories following the 1898 Spanish-American War, the
Supreme Court put forth a new concept of territorial status. In a series of cases known as the
Insular Cases (1901-1922), the Court distinguished between “incorporated” and “unincorporated”
territories. Incorporated territories were considered integral parts of the United States, to which
all relevant provisions of the U.S. Constitution applied. They were understood to be bound for
eventual statehood. The territories acquired during the Spanish-American War were considered
unincorporated, not destined for statehood and, as such, only the “fundamental” parts of the
21 Act of March 3, 1817, ch. 42, 3 Stat. 363.
22 Act of May 17, 1884, ch. 53, 23 Stat 24.
23 Senator Benjamin Harrison, “Government for Alaska,” Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 15 (January 23,
1884), p. 594.
24 Act of May 7, 1906, 34 Stat. 169.
25 Act of April 3, 1900, 31 Stat. 148.
26 Inclusion of the provision is noted in remarks on the bill, but there was no debate on the question. Rep. William
Knox, “Government for the Territory of Hawaii,” House debate, Congressional Record, vol. 33 (April 3, 1900), p.
3709.
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Constitution applied of their own force. The political status of unincorporated territories, the
Court said, was a matter for Congress to determine by legislation.27
Congress did grant representation to two of the territories acquired from Spain—Puerto Rico and
the Philippines. It did so, however, in a way that distinguished their situation from that of
statehood-bound territories. Rather than authorizing Delegates, Congress provided for Resident
Commissioners to the United States from Puerto Rico28 and the Philippines,29 who were to be
entitled to “official recognition as such by all departments.” According to political scientist
Abraham Holtzman:
[N]o reference to Congress or the House of Representatives was made in the authorizing
statutes. Apparently, it was Congress’s intent that the mandate of these representatives be
broader than service in the U.S. legislature.... This suggests a role for resident commissioners
more akin to that of a foreign diplomat than that of a legislator. Nevertheless, the
representatives from these two territories did serve in the House.... 30
The Resident Commissioners from Puerto Rico and the Philippines did not initially enjoy the
same privileges as the prior nonvoting Delegates and they were not even allowed on the House
floor. In 1902 and 1908, respectively, the House of Representatives granted them the right to the
floor, but not the right to speak.31 In 1904, the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner was given
the “same powers and privileges as to committee service and in the House as are possessed by
Delegates” and was deemed “competent to serve on the Committee on Insular Affairs as an
additional member.”32 The Resident Commissioners from the Philippines, however, were never
permitted to serve on standing committees.
The posts of resident commissioners differed from those of delegates in other significant ways.
Initially, the Philippines, owing to its substantially larger population and dispersed land mass, was
authorized two Resident Commissioners who served for three-year terms. It was not until the
Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934,33 setting a timetable leading to the ultimate independence of the
Philippines, that the second Resident Commissioner position was abolished. The Resident
Commissioner from Puerto Rico was initially chosen for a two-year term, but in 1917, Congress,
at the initiative of the Puerto Rican government, extended it to four years beginning with the
election of 1920.34
For 11 years following the admission of Hawaii to the Union in 1959, the Resident Commissioner
from Puerto Rico was the only territorial representative serving in Congress. Then, in 1970, the
27 Frederick R. Coudert, “The Evolution of the Doctrine of Territorial Incorporation,” Columbia Law Review, vol. 26
(November 1926), pp. 823-850. For more on the insular cases and Puerto Rico, please see CRS Report RL 32933,
Political Status of Puerto Rico: Options for Congress, by Keith Bea and R. Sam Garrett.
28 Act of April 12, 1900, ch. 191, 31 Stat. 77, 86.
29 Act of July 1, 1902, ch. 1369, 32 Stat. 691, 694.
30 Abraham Hotlzman, “Empire and Representation: The U.S. Congress,” Legislative Studies Quarterly, vol. 11 (May
1986), p. 253.
31 Debate in House, Congressional Record, vol. 35 (June 28, 1902), p. 7608; Debate in House, Congressional Record,
vol. 42 (February 4, 1908), p. 1540.
32 Debate in House, Congressional Record, vol. 38 (February 2, 1904), pp. 1523,1529.
33 Formally known as the Philippine Independence Act, P.L. 73-127, 48 Stat 456.
34 Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, by R. Eric Petersen. Act of March 2, 1917, ch. 145, 39 Stat. 951, 963.
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District of Columbia was authorized to elect a Delegate.35 The Delegates’ ranks grew with the
authorization of congressional representation for the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin
Islands in 1972. And through further amendment of House rules “each Delegate to the House”
was given the same committee assignment rights and committee powers and privileges as
Members of the House. In 1978, the territory of American Samoa likewise gained the right to
send a Delegate to the House. According to the authorizing statute:
Until the Rules of the House of Representatives are amended to provide otherwise, the
Delegate from American Samoa ... shall be entitled to whatever privileges and immunities
that are, or hereinafter may be, granted to the nonvoting Delegate from the Territory of
Guam.
Similar language was used again in the 110th Congress to authorize the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands to send a delegate to Congress, beginning with the 111th Congress.36
Delegates Rights and Responsibilities
Since the first Delegate was sent to Congress, the House has struggled with the role Delegates
should play. Some Members, noting that the Constitution, in Article I, Section 2, requires that the
House be made up of representatives “chosen every second Year by the People of the several
States,” have expressed concerns that allowing Delegates to have the same rights and
responsibilities as Members would be unconstitutional. Because Delegates, by definition, do not
represent states, Members have on several occasions debated what rights such delegates should
exercise in the House.37
One example of this debate is the variation in the role Delegates have been allowed to play in
committees. For significant periods, Delegates were not appointed to standing committees, and
could not vote during committee consideration of measures or matters even on those committees
where they were permitted to serve. Which committees Delegates could serve on, and their rights
on those committees, have been debated periodically in Congress over the last 200 years. This
debate also spread to questions about whether delegates could vote while the House was acting as
the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, a parliamentary device used by the
House to facilitate debate and amendment of legislation. That question has been hotly contested
in the House since the 103rd Congress.38
35 P.L. 91-405, Sept. 22, 1970, 84 Stat. 845, 848. Congress had previously authorized a DC Delegate (Act of February
21, 1871, ch. 62, 16 Stat. 419, 426) but soon afterward repealed that provision (Act of June 20, 1874, ch. 337, 18 Stat.
116).
36P.L. 110-229, 122 Stat 868, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (S. 2739). During World War II, the
United States took control of the Northern Mariana Islands from the Japanese. Following the war, the United States
administered the Northern Mariana Islands at the request of the United Nations. In 1975, the United States and
representatives of the islands reached an agreement, known as the “Covenant to Establish A Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America,” and in 1986 residents of the Northern
Mariana Islands were granted U.S. citizenship. See also U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act, Report to accompany H.R. 3079, 110th Cong., 2nd
sess., April 10, 2008, S.Rept. 110-324 (Washington: GPO, 2008).
37 For a current summary of the rights of delegates and the resident commissioner, please see CRS Report R40170,
Parliamentary Rights of the Delegates and Resident Commissioner From Puerto Rico, by Christopher M. Davis.
38 For more on the Committee of the Whole, please see CRS Report RS20147, Committee of the Whole: An
Introduction, by Judy Schneider. The rights of delegates and the resident commissioner currently are found in House
(continued...)
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Currently, Delegates enjoy powers, rights, and responsibilities identical, in most respects, to those
of House Members from the states. Delegates can speak and introduce bills and resolutions on the
floor of the House, may offer amendments and most motions on the House floor, and can speak
and vote in House committees. Delegates are not, however, Members of the House. They cannot
vote on the House floor, consequently they cannot offer a motion to reconsider a vote during floor
debate, and they are not counted for quorum purposes in the House. Delegates are not permitted
to vote or preside over either the Committee of the Whole or the House in the 112th Congress.
Committee Assignments and Voting
The House began to define the functions of Delegates when, on January 13, 1795, it appointed
Mr. White to serve as a member of a select committee to investigate better means of promulgating
the laws of the United States.39 During several subsequent Congresses, the House continued the
practice of allowing Delegates to serve on select committees. William Henry Harrison, the first
delegate to represent the Northwest Territory (and later, the ninth President of the United States),
served on a number of select committees, some of which had been created at his initiative, that
addressed issues such as public land laws and the judiciary in the territories.40 According to
historians, in December 1799, Mr. Harrison became the first Delegate to chair a select
committee.41 An active participant in House debates, Delegate Harrison likewise served as a
House conferee in disputes with the Senate.42
The first regular assignment of a Delegate to standing committee occurred under a House rule
adopted in December 1871. The rule directed the Speaker of the House to appoint a Delegate as
an additional member of the Committee on the Territories and to appoint the DC Delegate as an
additional member of the Committee for the District of Columbia.43 Additional committee
assignments were authorized in 1876, 1880, and 1887.44 Describing the concurrent development
of the Delegates’ non-legislative role, historian Earl S. Pomeroy wrote:
(...continued)
Rule III, clauses 3(a) and 3(b). The House Rule requiring an automatic re-vote for some votes in the Committee of the
Whole is Rule XVIII clause 6(h). U.S. Congress, Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual and the Rules of the House of
Representatives, prepared by John V. Sullivan, parliamentarian, 110th Cong., 1st sess., 2007, H.Doc. 109-157
(Washington: GPO, 2007), pp. 378, 380, 776.
39 Annals of Congress, vol. 4, 3rd Cong., 2nd sess., January 13, 1795, p. 1082.
40 See, for example, Annals of Congress, vol. 10, 6th Cong., 1st sess., December 1799-April 1800, pp. 193, 197-198,
209-210, 477, 510, 513, 660.
41 There is disagreement, however, over which select committee Delegate Harrison was first appointed to chair. See
Dorothy Burne Goebel, William Henry Harrison (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1974), pp. 44, 49; and Jo Tice Bloom,
“Early Delegates in the House of Representatives,” in The American Territorial System (Athens, OH: Ohio University
Press, 1973), p. 67.
42 U.S. Congress, House, The Journal of the House of Representatives, vol. 4, 6th Cong., 1st sess. (Wilmington, Del:
Michael Glazer, Inc. 1977), pp. 187, 372.
43 Congressional Globe, vol. 102, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess., December 13, 1871, pp. 117-118. This was during the short
period (1871-1874) during which the District of Columbia was first granted a Delegate. P.L. 91-405, September 22,
1970, 84 Stat. 845, 848. Congress had previously authorized a DC Delegate (Act of February 21, 1871, ch. 62, 16 Stat.
419, 426) but soon afterward repealed that provision (Act of June 20, 1874, ch. 337, 18 Stat. 116).
44 Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives, 60th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington: GPO, 1907), (hereafter Hinds’
Precedents), vol. II, Sec. 1297, p. 864. In committee, the Delegates had the same powers and privileges as on the floor
of the House (and thus, could not vote), and could make any motion except to reconsider (which presumes that the
mover had previously voted).
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The territorial delegate increased in stature appreciably between 1861 and 1890. Without the
formal powers of a congressman, he acquired more of a congressman’s influence and general
functions. He was disseminator of information, lobbyist, agent of territorial officers, of the
territorial legislature, and of his constituency, self-constituted dispenser of patronage. He
interceded at times in almost every process of control over the territories, and generally no
one challenged his right to intercede.45
Along with the right to sit on a standing committee, the House has also debated what rights
Delegates could exercise once on the committees. Historians differ on whether delegates were
allowed to vote in committees prior to the early 1970s. One account states that as “additional
members” of standing committees from 1871 through 1971, Delegates did not have the right to
vote in committee.46
Some evidence, however, suggests that Delegates were allowed to vote in committee in an earlier
period. According to a September 3, 1841, report of the Committee of Elections:
With the single exception of voting, the Delegate enjoys every other privilege and exercises
every other right of a Representative. He can act as a member of a standing or special
committee and vote on the business before said committees, and he may thus exercise an
important influence on those initiatory proceedings by which business is prepared for the
action of the House. He is also required to take an oath to support the Constitution of the
United States.47
Even if the Delegates at one point had that right, they clearly did not have it in the 1880s. On
February 23, 1884, a proposition was made in the House that Delegates be allowed to vote in
committee. The proposition was referred to the Committee on Rules, but no action was taken.
The right of Delegates to vote in committee resurfaced as an issue in the 1930s. After a lengthy
investigation, a House committee reported that neither the Constitution nor any statutes supported
such a committee vote. Although a House rule provided for the appointment of territorial
Delegates as additional members on certain committees, the report noted, “the House could not
elect to one of its standing committees a person not a Member of the House.” According to the
report:
The designation “additional member” applied to a Delegate clearly indicates the character of
the assignment. Expressly the Delegate shall exercise in the committee ... the same powers
and privileges as in the House, to wit, the “right of debating, but not the right of voting.”48
In the 1970s, the system of territorial representation in Congress underwent significant change as
more territories were granted Delegates and as Delegates were given increased powers.49 In 1970,
Congress enacted the Legislative Reorganization Act, which contained a provision to amend the
House rule on Delegates to read:
45 Earl S. Pomeroy, The Territories and the United States (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1947), p. 80.
46 Holtzman, “Empires and Representation: The U.S. Congress,” p. 261.
47 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Elections, David Levy, 27th Cong., 1st sess., September 3, 1841, H.Rept. 10, p.
5. This case concerned whether David Levy, from the territory of Florida, was a citizen of the United States. The
committee held that Mr. Levy was not a citizen, and, as such, could not serve as a Delegate.
48 Hinds’ Precedents, vol. 2, Sec. 1300, p. 865.
49 Debate in House, Congressional Record, vol. 75 (January 18, 1932), pp. 2163-2164.
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The Resident Commissioner to the United States from Puerto Rico shall be elected to serve
on standing committees in the same manner as Members of the House and shall possess in
such committees the same powers and privileges as the other Members.50
The provision was offered in a floor amendment by Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Jorge
Cordova.
My amendment would abolish this privilege [service on a committee as an “additional
member”]. It would provide for the election of the Resident Commissioner to standing
committees in the same manner as Members of the House are elected. This would mean, in
effect, that the Resident Commissioner may be fortunate to secure election to one of the three
committees on which he now serves. But my amendment would also provide that the
Resident Commissioner have the same rights in committee as other members, which means,
of course, that he would have the right to vote within the committee.
Representative Thomas S. Foley, who later served as Speaker of the House, supported the
amendment claiming that the grant of voting rights in committee to delegates was within the
power of the House.
The committees of the House of Representatives are creatures of the House of
Representatives. They can be extinguished at will and created at will. It does not even require
concurrence of the other body when we take such an action. Depriving members of the right
to vote in a committee is fully within the power of the House, by abolishing the committee.
Giving them additional rights to vote is within the power of the House by creating a new
committee.... Nothing that the Resident Commissioner could do in a committee vote could
become a final decision unless a majority of the elected Members of Congress supported his
position. However, in the standing committee itself I think that the Member from Puerto
Rico should have a vote. I think the House has the constitutional authority to give him a vote
in that limited area.
The amendment was opposed by Representative B.F. Sisk, the floor manager of the bill and a
senior member of the House Rules Committee. Sisk asked rhetorically whether the Cordova
amendment “would be interpreted so that he would be entitled to vote in the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union.” In response, sometime later, Cordova observed that
“The amendment which I have offered refers expressly to the standing committees. I believe the
Committee of the Whole House is not a standing committee.” The Cordova amendment was
agreed to by voice vote.51
In 1971, the House rewrote its rules according the rights in committee set forth in the Legislative
Reorganization Act to the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico as well as to the newly
authorized DC Delegate.52 In 1973, the House again changed its rules to provide for the election
of all Delegates to the House to standing committees, reflecting the creation of new delegate
positions from American Samoa and Guam in 1972.53
50 P.L. 91-510, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1140, 1161.
51 The full debate on the Cordova amendment can be found in Congressional Record, vol. 116, September 15, 1970,
pp. 31843-31852.
52 Debate in House, Congressional Record, 92nd Cong. 1st sess., vol. 117, January 21, 1971, pp. 14, 143-144.
53 “House Rules,” Debate in the House, Congressional Record, January 3, 1973, pp. 17-27.
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Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Committee of the Whole Voting Rights
Since at least the 103rd Congress, there has been debate in the House on whether Delegates should
vote when the House is acting as the Committee of the Whole. Delegates were first granted this
right during the 103rd Congress, and it has changed several times as majority party control of the
House has changed. Delegates were permitted to vote in the Committee of the Whole in the 103rd
Congress, the 110th Congress, and the 111th Congress. The House in the 112th Congress does not
allow floor votes by Delegates.
In the 103rd, 110th, and 111th Congresses, House rules also provided that, if the votes of the
Delegates were decisive, that is if the result of the vote would have changed but for the voting of
the Delegates, then the Committee of the Whole would immediately rise, and the House itself,
where delegates may not vote, would vote on the question. Once the question was settled, the
Committee of the Whole would resume its work.54
Following initial adoption of the rule allowing Delegates to vote in Committee of the Whole in
1993, a group of House Members filed a lawsuit challenging the change. They argued that the
rule change violated Article I of the Constitution by granting legislative power to Delegates who
were not “Members [of the House of Representatives] chosen every second Year by the People of
the several States.” They took issue with the characterization of the Committee of the Whole as a
committee and maintained, instead, that it was tantamount to the full House. In their complaint,
the plaintiffs stated:
[N]on-member voting in the Committee of the Whole impairs and dilutes the constitutional
rights of the plaintiff-Representatives, both as Members of the House and as voters who
enjoy the right to full, fair and proportionate representation in the House of
Representatives.55
They further alleged that the House did not have the authority to unilaterally expand the powers
of the Delegates.
The House defendants56 countered that the House of Representatives was constitutionally
empowered to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.”57 They argued that the Committee of the
Whole, like other congressional committees, was an advisory body created by the House and was
not subject to the requirements in Article I. They rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that the
Committee of the Whole effectively controlled action in the House, citing both the preliminary
nature of its proceedings and the provision for an automatic re-vote in cases in which Delegate
votes were decisive.58
54 During the periods when the House has permitted Delegate voting in Committee of the Whole, the authority was
included in House Rule III, clause 3(a), and permission for the Delegates to preside over the Committee of the Whole
was located in House Rule XVIII, clause 1.
55 Michel v. Anderson, No. 93-0039 (HHG), Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, at 4 (D.D.C. January 7,
1993).
56 The defendants were the Clerk of the House, the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner.
57 U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 5.
58 Michel v. Anderson, No. 93-0039 (HHG), House Defendants’ Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss and in
Opposition to Preliminary Injunction (D.D.C. February 2, 1993).
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Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
In March 1993, Judge Harold H. Greene of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
upheld the changes to the House rules. As his opinion made clear, however, he did so only
because of the automatic re-vote provision. “If the only action of the House of Representatives
had been to grant to the Delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands, and
American Samoa, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico the authority to vote in the
Committee of the Whole,” he wrote, “its action would have been plainly unconstitutional.”59 His
opinion further stated:
[W]hile the action the House took on January 5, 1993 undoubtedly gave the Delegates
greater stature and prestige both in Congress and in their home districts, it did not enhance
their right to vote on legislation.... [B]y virtue of Rule XXIII they [the votes of the
Delegates] are meaningless. It follows that the House action had no effect on legislative
power, and that it did not violate Article I or any other provision of the Constitution.60
In January 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the
constitutionality of the House rule changes.61
Table 1. Statutes Providing For Territorial Representation in Congress
Territory Statute
Year
Northwest of the river Ohio
1 Stat. 50
1789a
South of the river Ohio
1 Stat. 123
1790
Mississippi
1 Stat. 549
1798
Indiana
2 Stat. 58
1800
Orleans
2 Stat. 322
1805
Michigan
2 Stat. 309
1805
Illinois 2
Stat. 514
1809
Missouri
2 Stat. 743
1812
Alabama
3 Stat. 371
1817
Arkansas
3 Stat. 493
1819
Florida
3 Stat. 354
1822
Wisconsin
5 Stat. 10
1838
Iowa
5 Stat. 10
1838
Oregon
9 Stat. 323
1848
Minnesota
9 Stat. 403
1849
New Mexico
9 Stat. 446
1850
Utah
9 Stat. 453
1850
Washington 10
Stat.
172
1853
Nebraska 10
Stat.
277
1854
59 Michel v. Anderson, 817 F.Supp. 126, 147 (D.D.C. 1993).
60 Ibid., pp 147-148.
61 Michel v. Anderson, 14 F.3d 623 (D.D. Cir. 1994).
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Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status
Territory Statute
Year
Kansas 10
Stat.
283
1854
Colorado 12
Stat.
172
1861
Nevada 12
Stat.
209
1861
Dakota 12
Stat.
239
1861
Arizona 12
Stat.
664
1863
Idaho 12
Stat.
808
1863
Montana 13
Stat.
853
1864
Wyoming 15
Stat.
178
1868
District of Columbia
16 Stat. 426
1871
Oklahoma 29
Stat.
81
1890
Puerto Rico
31 Stat. 86
1900
Hawai 31
Stat.
141
1900
Philippine Islands
32 Stat. 694
1902
Alaska 34
Stat.
169
1906
District of Columbia
84 Stat. 848
1970
Virgin Islands
86 Stat. 118
1972
Guam 86
Stat.
118
1972
American Samoa
92 Stat. 2078
1978
Commonwealth of the Northern
122 Stat. 868
2008
Mariana Islands
Source: “Non-voting delegates to the House,” Congressional Record, vol. 124 (Oct. 3, 1978), p. 33287; P.L. 110-
229.
a. This measure from the First Congress re-enacted the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, with
the changes made necessary by ratification of the Constitution. The original Northwest Ordinance had been
enacted under the Articles of Confederation.
Author Contact Information
Betsy Palmer
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
bpalmer@crs.loc.gov, 7-0381
Acknowledgments
This report builds on earlier reports on territorial delegates prepared by Andorra Bruno, former colleague
Paul Rundquist and the late William H. Tansill.
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