Reply to Did you know the District has Shadow Senators????

Forum Index » Metropolitan DC Local Politics

Reply to "Did you know the District has Shadow Senators????"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]You're not alone, OP.  I learned in 6th grade government class in a state far away from here that DC had shadow reps in Congress. But even having lived in and around DC for 20 years, I'd sort of assumed they'd been replaced by Eleanor Holmes Norton's Delegate position.  I see now that they're just pointless lobbyists and not actually participants in Congress.

Why is D.C.’s nonvoting delegate allowed to participate in official business in the House of Representatives, but D.C.’s shadow senators aren’t allowed to participate in the official business of the Senate?

You’re confusing the District’s mostly pointless elected representative with its entirely pointless ones.  While Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton can serve on House committees, she’s denied a vote on full bills (and on virtually all business on the House floor when Republicans are in charge, as they are now). The District’s shadow senators and shadow representative, on the other hand, are unpaid lobbyists elected to push for D.C. statehood—but they’re essentially a figment of the District’s imagination as far as the actual rules of Congress are concerned. The District tried to get a delegatelike representative in the Senate in the ’70s, but the senators weren’t having it. Aside from a few privileges (access to the Senate dining room!), the shadow delegation isn’t recognized as a real thing outside of their basement offices in the Wilson Building.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/article/13045117/why-does-dcs-nonvoting-delegate-have-more-power-than-its[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics