January 11, 1999

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

Congratulations on your election as Speaker. Your inaugural speech set a positive tone for the 106^th Congress that may enable us to work together to accomplish the people’s business. Unfortunately, on the same day that you spoke so eloquently, the House also adopted unfair and partisan committee ratios, including an unwarranted five-seat margin for the Commerce Committee, that threatens to undermine bipartisan legislative efforts.

As a former Member of the Commerce Committee, you understand the need for a committee to reflect the composition of the House. This Committee’s successes under Democratic and Republican control have generally been the result of bipartisan cooperation. While "supermajorities" have traditionally been established for certain committees, this has never been the case on the Commerce Committee.

At the Committee’s organizational meeting last week, many Democratic Members expressed their strong concerns about these ratios. Chairman Bliley stated that the decision on ratios was a matter for those "above my pay grade," and both he and Congressman Tauzin promised to raise the concerns of the Minority to you. This letter explains to you directly why the Commerce Committee ratio needs to be changed. (I have also enclosed an earlier letter to Mr. Livingston outlining my concerns.)

The attached analysis shows that the ratio of 29 Republicans to 24 Democrats on the Commerce Committee is the most unfair in the past 50 years. The differential of the Republican control of the Committee compared to the House is 3.45 percent, which is the greatest in 50 years. If there were a switch of one Republican seat to one Democratic seat, the resultant 28-25 ratio would still result in Republican representation on the Committee that is 1.57 percent greater than their representation in the House. During the past 50 years, with the exception of one Congress, it would never have been possible to switch a Majority seat to a Minority seat without going below the Majority percentage in the House. That exception was the last Congress.

This continued unfairness denies to voters in Democratic districts the representation on this and other committees that is due them for reasons that are unclear at best. I urge you to review and to correct this problem before it damages the prospects for bipartisan legislation in the coming two years.

Sincerely,

JOHN D. DINGELL
RANKING MEMBER

Enclosures [Ratio Analysis (pdf), Livingston Letter (105th Congress)]