Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to vote NO on HR 151, another deceptively named bill the so-called — “Fair Representation Act” — introduced by Republicans again in this Congress.
HR 151 seeks to achieve a clearly unconstitutional purpose, according to both Republican and Democratic administrations and the Congressional Research Service.
It would require the U.S. Census Bureau to exclude noncitizens from the congressional apportionment calculation after each census — an action that would clearly violate the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to apportion seats based on “the whole number of persons in each State”.
The 14th Amendment was enacted, in relevant part, to repeal the provision in Article I that counted slaves as only three-fifths of a person for apportionment purposes; H.R. 151 evokes this shameful legacy by treating noncitizens as less than a person.
Because census data guide the allocation of $2.8 trillion annually in federal assistance to states, localities, individuals, and families for a range of vital services, an inaccurate census will skew the fair and prudent distribution of federal resources for the next decade.
Vote NO on HR 151. Thank you and your staff for your service.
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