Utah officials at Senate hearing press for 4th seat

WASHINGTON — Utah officials urged Congress on Wednesday to end the debate over creating new House seats for the state and the District of Columbia by passing a bill and letting the U.S. Supreme Court decide whether it's legal.

"I wouldn't sign off on this if I didn't think there were legitimate constitutional justification for it," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"It's time to write this law," he said. "If the court says it's wrong, we'll live with that. I personally don't think they will."

The bill would add two seats to the House, granting the district its first voting member and giving Utah a fourth House seat, which state officials believe they should have received after the 2000 census.

The bill passed the House last month. Senators now are considering a version sponsored by Hatch, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

Some lawmakers and the White House oppose the bill because the Constitution limits House representation to states, and the district is not a state.

But Hatch and two other Utah officials said the legislation would correct injustices for Utah and the district.

"This legislation puts Utah on a path to remedy a flawed decision," Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, told the committee.

Utah missed a fourth House seat by just 857 people in 2000. Officials have argued that the government should have counted more than 11,000 Mormon missionaries living overseas.

The state at the time protested that "under-representation is no representation," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff testified.

The district's situation is more dire, he added.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to have no representation for 200 years," Shurtleff said. "I am saying it is an equality issue. It is a justice issue."

The district has a delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is allowed to vote in House committees.