IT'S UP TO CONGRESS TO FIX REDISTRICTING,
SAY LAWMAKERS AND REFORM ADVOCATES

Bipartisan legislation ends gerrymandering, eases
polarization after Supreme Court okays partisan free-for-all

WASHINGTON – Congress will continue to become more polarized, and voters will be left out of the electoral process if Congress doesn’t act now on redistricting reform legislation, U.S. Rep. John Tanner said today at a bipartisan news event with other Members of Congress and a broad coalition of government reform advocacy groups.

The Supreme Court in a June 28 ruling declined to denounce the practice of mid-decade, partisan gerrymandering that has “crippled” the work of Congress, Tanner said.

“If we are going to fix this problem and give control of Congress back to the American people like our founding fathers intended, then the House and Senate must take that action now,” said Congressman Tanner, the author of the bipartisan “Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act,” which would create independent commissions to design each state’s district map and would bar mid-decade redistricting.

HR 2642/ S.2350 was introduced in the Senate by Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD). It has been endorsed by FairVote – The Center for Voting and Democracy, Common Cause, Public Citizen and the National Taxpayers Union, along with numerous newspaper editorials.

“The current redistricting process amounts to a power grab by those already in power, and voters are largely left out of the process,” Tanner said. “The result is more idealistic extreme representatives who feel little need to work with others in Washington to find realistic solutions to the country’s problems.”

Senator Johnson agreed the American people will benefit from reform.

"We should all be concerned about the political shenanigans and gerrymandering that occur in this country. It affects the makeup of Congress and leaves nearly 90% of Members with safe seats and little chance of losing an election. We need to clean up this process,” Senator Johnson said.  “Congressman Tanner’s leadership on this issue is to be applauded, and I am proud to join the effort.”

Johnson and Tanner sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to other Senators and House Members today to encourage them to join the growing list of the bill’s co-sponsors. Both chambers have assigned the bill to their respective Judiciary Committees, where no further action has been scheduled.

In a July 18 letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, Tanner requested a hearing on the bill. He noted that Chairman Sensenbrenner had introduced similar legislation in 1989.

“Knowing that in the past you have shared many of my concerns about how the redistricting process negatively impacts policy decisions, I am hopeful you will hold a hearing on my legislation so we can return the House of Representatives to the voters it was designed to represent,” Tanner wrote to Sensenbrenner.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714