A
Delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the
United States House of Representatives who is elected from a
U.S. territory or from the
District of Columbia. While unable to vote in the full House, a non-voting Delegate may vote in a House committee of which the Delegate is a member. The positions are now more permanent, having been supported by Congressional legislation (see Section 891, of Title 48 of the U. S. Code). However, this legislation stipulates that, ". . .the right to vote in committee shall be provided by the Rules of the House." Hence, if the delegate system or the individuals serving as delegates were to pose a threat to the institution of the House, the House majority could, without a consensus with the Senate or the President, discipline or weaken the delegates.
Delegates serve exclusively in the House of Representatives—the Senate does not include any counterpart official from U.S. areas that do not possess statehood status. The non-voting delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico are subject to office-holding limits, e.g. they can hold no other federal office simultaneously. They receive compensation, benefits, and franking privileges (free outgoing U.S. Mail) similar to full House members (48 U.S.C.&_160;§&_160;891, § 1711). Their travel account is limited to the equivalent of four round-trip flights per year per delegate (48 U.S.C.&_160;§&_160;1715).
In 1993, the 103rd Congress approved a rule change that allowed the four Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote on the floor of the House, but only in the Committee of the Whole. However, if any measure passed or failed in the Committee of the Whole because of a Delegate's vote, a second vote — excluding the Delegates — would be taken. In other words, Delegates were permitted to vote only if their votes had no effect on a measure's ultimate outcome. This change was denounced by Republicans (all five of the Delegates either were Democrats or were allied with the Democrats at the time) as a case of partisanship[citation needed]; the Democrats had lost a dozen house seats in the 1992 election, and this change effectively reduced the impact in half. In 1995, this rule change was reversed by the 104th Congress, stripping the Delegates of even non-decisive votes. The reversal was also denounced by Democrats (all five of the Delegates either were Democrats or were allied with the Democrats at the time) as a case of partisanship[citation needed]; the change was made after Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Republicans countered that the former rule essentially gave the Democrats five more votes to which they were not constitutionally entitled.[citation needed] In January 2007, it was proposed by Democrats in the House that the 1993–1995 procedure be revived.[1] The House approved the proposal with the adoption of H.Res.&_160;78 by a vote of 226–191.
Current practice not only grants delegates votes in the standing committees, but also in the powerful conference committees (see House Rule III, 3[b]). Conference committees include representatives from both the House and Senate. These committees work to compromise and reconcile conflicts between House and Senate bills. Conferees often have great influence on the specifics of new federal laws.
