Cooper, Shuler lead Blue Dogs in effort to stop gerrymandering
January 26, 2011
“The current system makes bipartisanship virtually impossible”
Today, members of the Blue Dog Coalition announced their renewed endorsement of legislation that would ease Congressional gridlock by reforming the redistricting process. The two bills, introduced by Congressman Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Congressman Heath Shuler of North Carolina, would put an end to political gerrymandering, a longstanding priority of the Blue Dogs that has spanned both Republican and Democratic majorities in the House.
"Both Democrats and Republicans want to minimize the number of competitive districts," said Cooper. "Today there are only 91 politically balanced districts out of 435, but both parties want even fewer. The political map-drawers know how to split neighborhoods, houses, and even, in theory, double beds. This abuse of the one-person, one-vote principle enables politicians to draw districts so bizarre that you need a GPS device to locate them."
Cooper has introduced H.R. 419, the "Redistricting Transparency Act of 2011," legislation that would go into effect this year and that allows the public to participate in the redistricting process. It requires open hearings and a public website in each state with data on Congressional districts so the public can watch and participate in the system by which district lines are drawn following the release of Census data.
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant," said Cooper. "No one should be against transparency."
"The American people should choose their representatives—not the other way around," said Shuler. "The current system of gerrymandered districts has left a patchwork of highly-partisan, ideologically skewed Congressional districts, where Representatives are more beholden to their political party than the constituents they were elected to serve. These gerrymandered districts often result in representatives from both extremes of the political spectrum being elected to Congress who cannot or will not work together for the benefit of all."
Shuler has introduced H.R. 453, the "Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act," which takes politics and partisanship out of the congressional redistricting process by setting minimum standards for states when redrawing congressional maps. Each state will be required to establish an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to redraw congressional district lines only once every 10 years based on principles outlined in the bill.
Fellow Blue Dog Policy Co-Chair, Congressman John Barrow of Georgia, also voiced his support for the bills.
"Redistricting should make sure that folks are more fairly and equally represented," said Barrow. "If we had more districts that look like the country as a whole, we'd have a Congress that's more representative of the country as a whole. That's the type of reform we should support, and that's what this legislation does."
"Both Democrats and Republicans want to minimize the number of competitive districts," said Cooper. "Today there are only 91 politically balanced districts out of 435, but both parties want even fewer. The political map-drawers know how to split neighborhoods, houses, and even, in theory, double beds. This abuse of the one-person, one-vote principle enables politicians to draw districts so bizarre that you need a GPS device to locate them."
Cooper has introduced H.R. 419, the "Redistricting Transparency Act of 2011," legislation that would go into effect this year and that allows the public to participate in the redistricting process. It requires open hearings and a public website in each state with data on Congressional districts so the public can watch and participate in the system by which district lines are drawn following the release of Census data.
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant," said Cooper. "No one should be against transparency."
"The American people should choose their representatives—not the other way around," said Shuler. "The current system of gerrymandered districts has left a patchwork of highly-partisan, ideologically skewed Congressional districts, where Representatives are more beholden to their political party than the constituents they were elected to serve. These gerrymandered districts often result in representatives from both extremes of the political spectrum being elected to Congress who cannot or will not work together for the benefit of all."
Shuler has introduced H.R. 453, the "Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act," which takes politics and partisanship out of the congressional redistricting process by setting minimum standards for states when redrawing congressional maps. Each state will be required to establish an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to redraw congressional district lines only once every 10 years based on principles outlined in the bill.
Fellow Blue Dog Policy Co-Chair, Congressman John Barrow of Georgia, also voiced his support for the bills.
"Redistricting should make sure that folks are more fairly and equally represented," said Barrow. "If we had more districts that look like the country as a whole, we'd have a Congress that's more representative of the country as a whole. That's the type of reform we should support, and that's what this legislation does."
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