Gerrymandering

Floor Speech

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Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Census seeks to count every American, every ten years. They do this so that every American may be equally represented and heard in this chamber by one of us. Friends, colleagues, Democrats, and Republicans, I submit this statement tonight, because nearly 250 years after our founding, the people of North Carolina are still not being fairly heard on this floor.

Before the first US Census count was conducted in 1790, North Carolina lawmakers, who looked nothing like me to say the least, joined with other representatives from southern states in advocating that African-American slaves be counted as ``three-fifths'' of a resident. More residents meant more congressional power. So they wanted our ancestors to count--but they denied them the vote. They wanted our bodies, but not our voices.

The echoes of that anti-democratic sentiment live today through gerrymandering. The effects of it are felt by all North Carolina voters and indeed, most voters around the country. The people of Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Florida are not being fairly heard on this floor.

To this day, the practice of gerrymandering drags the feet of our democracy, back to the early days of our nation when most of our citizens did not have a voice. The New Majority is built on it, but both parties are complicit in it. I am standing on this tonight, because I won't stand for it anymore.

Gerrymandering does more than sand the gears of our democracy. It harms our ability to govern. We can count people a lot faster than we could in 1790, but there's a reason the Census is only done every ten years. The long stability period gives us time to get to know our constituents, their needs, and the needs of the land, businesses, and organizations therein. It's why it's important that these districts represent cohesive communities. But that stability in governance has not been the case for my constituents, or for most in North Carolina.

The Republican Majority in the North Carolina General Assembly engaged in political pornography to stack congressional districts in their favor, locking 10 of our 14 congressional districts into Republican control in a state that voted 50-50 for the US House.

Over the past ten years of my service, this district has undergone changes in 2016, 2020, 2022, and now here in 2024. My first district looked something like a potted plant, growing along I-85 from Charlotte to Greensboro. If I knew then my district would evolve four more times, I might have traded my house for an RV. Starting in January I'll have served the fifth configuration of my district in ten years. Most of you in this chamber who've served as long as I have, have served just two in that same time period.

Think about what serving five different districts does to our efforts at governance. Every year I give a State of the District speech, and I'm either saying goodbye or introducing myself to half my constituents. Many are surprised to hear from me.

Frequently redrawn districts mean weakened and less effective governance. Constituents need a representative in Congress often for basic help with federal services, like their Social Security checks, unemployment insurance, Veterans benefits, passport services, etc. Constantly scrambling relationships between offices and constituents hurts this process, and hurts our constituents. Worse, it undermines the basic faith Americans have in democracy.

The problem is especially bad in Charlotte, one of the Nation's fastest-growing cities, where many inhabitants relocated from elsewhere and feel especially disengaged with local politics. As hospitable southerners, our state leaders should take responsibility for changing this. Unfortunately, perpetuating it is more in line with our history.

State-level lawmakers are egged on by their counterparts and former colleagues here in Washington. They think they are here to deliver for a party agenda, but let me tell you, we are not here to govern for ourselves or for a party. We're here to govern for the people. America has never been about those in power, but about the work to make a more perfect union.

And there are answers.

While it took nearly 200 years, the sons and daughters of former slaves did eventually realize their right to help choose the representatives who walk these halls tonight. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ``the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.''

Legal standards for fairly drawn districts are not rocket science. The process worked--in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, and even, for a brief time, in North Carolina. National standards would be imperfect, but far greater than the status quo. They would ensure that the 330 million Americans we counted in 2020 are divided into 435 equally numbered, fairly and transparently drawn, more competitive districts that are representative of real communities. They would give us as representatives time to get to know our constituents, and maybe even solve a few more of their problems, too.

While North Carolina Republicans have chosen party power over the cultivation of democracy, cynicism over faith in the people, and their newfound fears over whatever once inspired them to public service, the people will win in the end.

Democracy will always have the last word.

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