119-hr5879

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5879 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5879

 To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional 
 redistricting after a decennial census and appointment unless it is 
 strictly mandated in the legislation used to implement the new 
Congressional map or it is necessary to comply with the Constitution of 
 the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, or the Constitution 
 of the State, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 October 31, 2025

 Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas (for himself, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Veasey, 
 Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Garcia of Texas, and Ms. Escobar) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional 
 redistricting after a decennial census and appointment unless it is 
 strictly mandated in the legislation used to implement the new 
Congressional map or it is necessary to comply with the Constitution of 
 the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, or the Constitution 
 of the State, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Save American 
Democracy Act'' or the ``SAD Act''.

    (b) Finding of Constitutional Authority.--Congress finds that it 
has the authority to establish the terms and conditions States must 
follow in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an 
apportionment of Members of the House of Representatives because--

    (1) the authority granted to Congress under article I, 
 

section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives 
 Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and 
 manner of elections for Members of the House of 
 Representatives; and

    (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

section 5 of 
 the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the 
 power to enact laws to enforce 

section 2 of such amendment, 
 which requires Representatives to be apportioned among the 
 several States according to their number.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION WITH RESPECT TO MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING.

    (a) In General.--A State which has redistricted in the manner 
provided by law after an apportionment under 

section 22

    (a) of the Act 
entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial 
censuses and to provide for an apportionment of Representatives in 
Congress'', approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be 
redistricted again until after the next apportionment under such Act 
unless--

    (1) a court requires the State to conduct such subsequent 
 redistricting to comply with the Constitution of the United 
 States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 
 seq.), or the Constitution of the State; or

    (2) legislation enacted by the State to implement such 
 redistricting expressly requires such subsequent redistricting.

    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
affect the manner in which a State carries out elections for State or 
local office.
            (c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to any 
Congressional redistricting which occurs after the regular decennial 
census conducted during 2020.
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