A fair count for Congress

More From The Grand Rapids Press  

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

How the federal government counts people determines everything from Medicaid funding to the number of seats each state gets in Congress.

On the second point, Michigan counts less and less these days.

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Macomb County, has proposed a fairer and more sensible system for deciding the number of Congress members from each state. The measure, which would change the U.S. Constitution, deserves more than the cursory treatment it's likely to get.

Congressional reapportionment takes place every 10 years when new U.S. Census figures come out. Michigan has lost representation in the last few decades.

In 1960, the state had 19 congressional seats. Today, it has only 15. Southern and western states have steadily gained during the same time. The changes reflect population trends -- including an influx of illegal immigrants to the United States.

Why are illegal immigrants counted for purposes of representation? The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires that congressional seats be doled out on the basis of "the whole number of persons in each State" -- "persons," not "citizens."

The amendment was passed after the Civil War to grant citizenship to former slaves. It unwittingly bestowed something like citizenship on people in this country illegally by allowing them to be counted for the important purpose of deciding the basic structure of the federal government.

Ms. Miller's proposed amendment would change the word "persons" in the 14th Amendment to "citizens."

Had the change been in effect before the 2000 census, California would have had six fewer representatives in Congress. Michigan and Pennsylvania would not have lost one each, while Utah, Montana and Oklahoma would have each gained a representative.

Counting only citizens for the sake of determining how many people to have in Congress seems like common sense. Only citizens can vote and enjoy the full rights and privileges the country has to offer.

This should be separate from the larger and more complex problem of what to do about illegal immigrants. A bipartisan proposal in Congress that would create new visa categories for temporary workers and undertake other immigration reforms would move the country in the right direction.

Ms. Miller is raising an issue with huge consequences for Michigan and other seat-losing states. Reduced representation in Congress affects everything from our ability to get federal highway money to the control Michigan and surrounding states can exercise over Great Lakes water. That shouldn't be happening because of a growing number of non-citizens in the country.

Ms. Miller introduced her proposed amendment earlier this summer. It landed with a thud in the House Judiciary Committee. There it will likely stay.

The very problem Ms. Miller is fighting -- Michigan's waning congressional influence -- will likely doom her solution. Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, and approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.

Representatives from states such as California and Texas, who benefit from the current count method, won't be in any hurry to change it.

Those dim prospects don't make Ms. Miller's proposal any less sound. In fact, the situation only reinforces the system's unfairness. Ms. Miller has made her point. Now, the vote should be called -- and counted.

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