What If Your State Had No Voting Members of Congress?

Do you live in a state? If so, you have two senators. Every state has two senators. You also have some Members of the House, also called congressmen and women. How many depends on the population of your state. Puerto Rico, with a population of more than three million, would have three or four congressmen if it were a state. Every time a question comes to a vote in Congress, your senators and congresspeople vote. Their votes determine the laws — the legislation — of the United States. What if your state had no voting members of Congress?

You would be in the position Puerto Rico is in right now.

No voting members of Congress?

Puerto Rico has one representative in Congress: the resident commissioner. The current resident commissioner corrected a journalist in an interview when she said he was a non-voting member. “Limited voting,” he said sharply. This is because the resident commissioner can vote in committees. Sometimes this person can also vote in full Congress votes…unless their vote would actually make a difference.

What does that mean? There are 435 Members of the House right now. Laws pass with a simple majority. So, if 218 members vote to admit Puerto Rico, the bill would pass. The bill to admit Alaska passed with just 3 more ayes than nays. Votes are often close.

If the resident commissioner’s vote on a bill is the deciding vote, his vote will be thrown out. That means that his vote is merely symbolic. It’s a way to express his opinion but has no effect on the legislation.

Some Congresses don’t allow Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner to vote at all, but it is considered more courteous to allow the symbolic vote.

So it’s basically a non-voting member.

In the Senate, Puerto Rico has no representation at all.

What does that mean for Puerto Rico?

If you live in a state, you have legislators who vote on issues with you in mind. They look at a bill and think, “How would this affect the people in my state?” Rep. Steve Womack lives in a state with a large population of people from the Marshall Islands, so legislature that could affect the Marshall Islands is going to catch his attention. When voting on a bill allowing people from the Marshall Islands to receive Medicaid when they live in a state, he thought about what would be best for the people from the Marshall Islands. When a bill about Puerto Rico’s Medicaid funding comes up — well, he still thinks about how it might affect the people who live in his district. That’s his job.

Congressmen and senators from manufacturing states support manufacturing. Those from farming states support agriculture. Every state has somebody in their corner.

But Puerto Rico doesn’t have anyone with a vote in their corner. Puerto Rico certainly has allies in the legislature. On both sides of the aisle there are people who support Puerto Rico and work for statehood for the Island. But when they vote, they have to think first about their constituents: the people who live in their states.

What’s more, many legislators will not meet with, take calls from, or even accept emails from people who are not their constituents. People who live in Puerto Rico have a hard time getting heard.

What does that mean for the United States?

If you live in a state, even if you are from Puerto Rico, you don’t have to worry about losing your voting members of Congress. The U.S. Constitution guarantees representation for the states. Not for the territories. We could just say that’s too bad for Puerto Rico but doesn’t matter much for the nation.

That’s not true, though. First, we’re talking about more than 3,000,000 U.S. citizens who are not represented in U.S. democracy. That’s a stain on our country. It’s not convincing for our nation to talk about the importance of democracy and voting rights when we disenfranchise millions of voters.

For another thing, we lose the voices of about five men and women who would bring unique experiences and background to the table. Puerto Rico is of great strategic importance to national security. It’s the largest exporter of pharmaceuticals in the United States. It’s the most biodiverse environment in the country. These perspectives — and we could list plenty more — could make a difference in the decisions made in the capitol.

We would not want to lose the knowledge and perspective of your state. We shouldn’t have to do without the knowledge and perspective of Puerto Rico, either. It’s long past time to admit Puerto Rico as a state. Puerto Rico is much more integrated into the life of the United States than any other territory was when it gained statehood. Reach out to your legislators and ask them to improve Congress by admitting Puerto Rico as a state.