Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives
Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, who do not have a right to vote on legislation in the full House but nevertheless have floor privileges and are able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-voting members may introduce legislation and may vote in a House committee of which they are a member.
There are currently six non-voting members: a delegate representing the District of Columbia, a resident commissioner representing Puerto Rico, as well as one delegate for each of the other four permanently inhabited U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A seventh delegate, representing the Cherokee Nation, has been formally proposed but not yet seated, while an eighth, representing the Choctaw Nation, is named in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek but has neither been proposed nor seated. As with voting members, delegates are elected every two years, except the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, who is elected every four years.
Privileges of delegates
Non-voting members serve exclusively in the House of Representatives; the Senate has no non-voting members and no members representing the territories or the District of Columbia. All delegates serve a term of two years, while resident commissioners serve a term of four years. They receive compensation, benefits, and franking privileges similar to full House members. The rules governing the rights of a non-voting member are set forth in the House Rules adopted in each congress. Since 1993, they have changed three times, and current delegates—along with the resident commissioner—enjoy privileges that they did not have previously.Early history
Territorial delegates existed before the ratification of the United States Constitution. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed for territory with "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age" to elect a non-voting delegate to the Continental Congress. After the ratification of the Constitution, the first United States Congress reenacted the Ordinance and extended it to include the territories south of the Ohio River.In 1790, the state of North Carolina—having recently ratified the constitution, becoming the 12th state—sent its congressional delegation to what was then the federal capital at New York City. Among them was former State of Franklin governor John Sevier, whose district comprised the "counties beyond the Alleghenies". He took office June 16, 1790, however, the government of North Carolina had ceded Washington District to the federal government on February 25, 1790, and it was organized as the Southwest Territory on August 7, 1790. He remained a member of the House until March 3, 1791, when he was appointed brigadier general of the militia.
On September 3, 1794, James White was elected by the Southwest Territory, which contained the former Washington District, to be their delegate to Congress. A resolution was put forth in the House to admit him to Congress, but as a delegate was not a position stated in the Constitution, the House debated what, if any, privileges White would have. As the Northwest Ordinance had only stated that a delegate is to sit "in Congress" the first debate was which chamber a delegate would sit in. Resolutions that he sit in both chambers and that his right to debate is limited to territorial matters were defeated. Ultimately, the House voted to allow him a non-voting seat in the House.
Following his placement, representatives debated whether he should take the oath. Representative James Madison stated "The proper definition of Mr. White is to be found in the Laws and Rules of the Constitution. He is not a member of Congress, therefore, and so cannot be directed to take an oath, unless he chooses to do it voluntarily."
As he was not a member, he was not directed to take the oath, though every delegate after him has done so. He was also extended franking privileges, which allowed him to send official mail free of charge, and compensation at the same rate as members.
In 1802 Congress passed a law that specifically extended franking privileges and pay to delegates. An act passed in 1817 codified the term and privileges of delegates:
n every territory of the United States in which a temporary government has been, or hereafter shall be established...shall have the right to send a delegate to Congress, such delegate shall be elected every second year, for the same term of two years for which members of the House of Representatives of the United States are elected; and in that house, each of the said delegates shall have a seat with a right of debating, but not of voting.
From that point on, until August 1959, there was not a single congress without delegates. During the period from 1870 to 1891, there were as many as ten serving at one time. With the admission of Hawaii, and with Puerto Rico sending a Resident Commissioner, the office temporarily went out of existence.
Resident commissioner
Similar to delegates are resident commissioners, who represented the large areas acquired during the Spanish–American War, and for much of the 20th century were considered colonies, not territories and unlike the previously acquired areas which would become the contiguous U.S. or Alaska and Hawaii, did not initially have residents with the rights of or to U.S. citizenship. Territories can gain independence from the United States with the consent of Congress,and in the case of the Philippines, they have.
Puerto Rico
, a U.S. commonwealth, has been represented by a non-voting resident commissioner since 1901. The resident commissioner holds a status similar to that of a delegate within the House, but, since 1921, serves a four-year term. The resident commissioner is the only individual elected to the House who serves for this duration.The Philippines
From 1907 until 1937, while it was a U.S. territory, the Philippines elected two non-voting resident commissioners to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1937 until 1946, while it was a U.S. commonwealth, the Philippines sent one non-voting resident commissioner to the House. Upon independence in 1946, the Philippines ceased to be represented in Congress.List of past delegates
Listed here by their congressional districts.| District | Start | End | Duration |
| 1818 | 1819 | 1 | |
| 1906 | 1959 | 53 | |
| 1864 | 1912 | 48 | |
| 1819 | 1836 | 17 | |
| 1861 | 1876 | 15 | |
| 1861 | 1889 | 28 | |
| 1822 | 1845 | 23 | |
| 1900 | 1959 | 59 | |
| 1864 | 1890 | 26 | |
| 1812 | 1818 | 6 | |
| 1805 | 1816 | 11 | |
| 1838 | 1846 | 8 | |
| 1854 | 1861 | 7 | |
| 1819 | 1836 | 17 | |
| 1849 | 1858 | 9 | |
| 1801 | 1817 | 16 | |
| 1812 | 1821 | 9 | |
| 1865 | 1889 | 24 | |
| 1855 | 1867 | 12 | |
| 1861 | 1864 | 3 | |
| 1851 | 1912 | 61 | |
| 1799 | 1802 | 3 | |
| 1890 | 1907 | 17 | |
| 1849 | 1859 | 10 | |
| 1806 | 1812 | 6 | |
| Philippines | 1907 | 1946 | 39 |
| 1794 | 1796 | 2 | |
| 1851 | 1897 | 46 | |
| 1854 | 1889 | 35 | |
| 1836 | 1848 | 12 | |
| 1869 | 1890 | 21 |