District of Columbia: DC and territories' delegates may get voting rights in House
AP reports: When the bells ring announcing a vote, 435 members of the House stream out of their hearings and offices and head for the House floor. Five others, banned from voting, seldom bother.
That would change if the new Democratic majority succeeds in changing the rules this week to give partial voting rights to the delegates from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands. A vote is scheduled Wednesday on restoring the rule.
It was in effect in 1993 and 1994 _ the last time Democrats were in power _ but rescinded when Republicans took over Congress in 1995. ...
The rule that existed briefly a decade ago let delegates vote in what is called the "committee of the whole," a term for the procedures the House uses when debating and amending a bill before going to a final vote. But the rule also stipulated that if a delegate's vote has a decisive impact on the outcome, the committee of the whole disbands and the full House votes on the issue without delegate participation. -- House Delegates May Get Some Voting Rights