Today, Congressman Michael San Nicholas introduced a House Resolution to provide a nonvoting delegate for the Senate to represent the territories.
San Nicolas states, “Not only does an elected territorial Senate presence enable us to originate and advocate for policy initiatives of interest to our respective territories, it also benefits the Senate with territorial perspective and input in its deliberations concerning the greater Republic.”
The American legislative system is split between two bodies: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of delegates to the House is determined by population size while the Senate has exactly two delegates from each state.
However, the resolution provides only one delegate to the Senate.
According to the Office of Michael San Nicolas, “The legislative process requires all potential laws considered by Congress to pass through both Chambers in order for them to be eligible to be signed into law by the President.
“Without representation in the Senate, the risk of that chamber excluding territories is much greater, and no potential laws from territories are able to originate there.”
