WILLIAMS: GOP PLAN WOULD "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" MONTGOMERY
County to be splintered among six Congressional districts
HARRISBURG, Dec. 14, 2001 – State Sen. Constance H. Williams today sharply criticized the Republican House and Senate Congressional reapportionment proposals, both of which shatter Montgomery County's representation.
"The goal here clearly is to divide and conquer Montgomery County," Williams (D-Montgomery/Delaware). "To be quite frank, it appears the Republicans feel threatened and will do whatever they can to put Montgomery County in a stranglehold."
Williams pointed out that Montgomery County has had its own representative since the first Congress in 1789. The first Speaker of the House, Frederick Muhlenberg, was from Montgomery County.
"For more than two centuries, the people of Montgomery County have spoken with one strong, proud voice," Williams said. "Now the Republicans want to silence that voice by ripping our communities apart."
Currently, nearly 84 percent of the county falls within the 13th Congressional district. Under the Senate Republican plan, which splinters the county among six districts, no one Congress member would represent a majority of the county.
|
CURRENT |
Senate GOP plan |
House GOP plan |
|
|
District 2 |
0.0% |
4.9% |
4.9% |
|
District 3 |
0.0% |
26.7% |
29.3% |
|
District 6 |
3.6% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
|
District 7 |
4.7% |
15.6% |
13.0% |
|
District 8 |
3.6% |
2.4% |
2.3% |
|
District 13 |
83.7% |
45.3% |
45.4% |
|
District 15 |
4.4% |
5.1% |
5.1% |
"It's bad enough that a county of nearly 800,000 people should be splintered into six ineffective little shards," Williams said. "But to do so in order to appease the raw political ambition of a few favored sons of the majority is reprehensible."
Williams was referring to the two new Congressional districts which apparently were custom-designed for Republican senators.
"Now, to insure that Montgomery County's interests are represented in Congress will take six times the effort, six times the hours, six times the money," Williams said. "And no one, not one of the six representatives, will have anything resembling a mandate to put the needs of Montgomery County first."