Congresswoman Checks U.S. Over Its Territories ‘Problem’ In House Floor Plea
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) made a plea to the House after the speakership vote Friday where she urged the chamber to tackle the “problem” with its nonvoting members in U.S. terrorities and the District of Columbia.
“This body and this nation has a territories and a colonies problem. What was supposed to be temporary has now effectively become permanent. We must do something about this problem so that these four million —,” said Plaskett as she spoke over boos from Republicans prior to her mic getting cut off.
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Her mic would later briefly turn back on, “But I have a voice!”
Plaskett — who received a standing ovation and cheers from Democrats — made a parliamentary inquiry where she questioned why she along with representatives from American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and D.C. were not part of the roll call for speaker.
She noted that, collectively, she and those members of the House represent “four million Americans” as well as the highest per-capita population of military veterans in the United States.
Only those elected in U.S. states can vote on the House speaker, the Associated Press noted.
Plaskett’s remarks made waves in a viral TikTok clip shared by MSNBC that scooped up over 1.6 million views as of Saturday morning.
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One TikTok user argued that since the territories include taxpaying U.S. citizens “they should have a voice in the house.”
“No if, ands, or buts about it,” they added.
Another user wrote, “I recall a nation declaring it’s Independence after it was taxed and denied representation in parliament to have a say on said tax. We sure have come far from this nations roots.”
Plaskett, in an interview with the Virgin Islands Source, declared that everyone has an “obligation to continue to point out wrongs, to express them, and to, in a logical, non-confrontational manner, discuss what we’re facing.”
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“Many people are not even aware of these issues happening in the territories. Eventually, we’ll get there if we’re all pushing and not accepting the status quo,” she said.
