Aaron Toman will introduce a Constitutional Amendment to provide full voting rights for the citizens of all US Territories and their Congressional Representatives, along with guaranteed US Citizenship for citizens born in American Samoa.
Most Americans are unaware of the facts surrounding the US Territories in general and even less are aware of how politics and elections work in the territories. First and foremost, ALL US territories pay federal taxes and follow ALL federal laws, yet have no vote in what those taxes and laws are; Libertarians call this: "Taxation without Representation". To truly understand the impact of this Constitutional Amendment, you must first understand the current system and why it must be fixed.
First, you must know what is being referred to by "US Territories". The US has had territories, or "land under US law and control", for most of its history. Some territories later became states (EX: Alaska), some achieved independence (EX: Philippines), some are still run as territories today (EX: Guam), and most are uninhabited (9 islands and atolls). Today, we have 6 inhabited territories which include: American Samoa, Guam, US Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC.
Of the 6 US Territories, all citizens born in their borders automatically receive US Citizenship, with the exception of American Samoa, who's residents are born "Non-Citizen Nationals of the US". American Samoans therefore must pay US Federal Taxes, must follow US Federal Laws, have consistently enlisted more soldiers per capita than any other United States territory or state, and yet, receive no rights or privileges that come with Citizenship, that is automatically given to ALL other US territories. There are many negative consequences to being denied citizenship in your home country and you are encouraged to research these effects and why it is critical to these "Fellow Americans", that we fix these disastrous policies. The residents of American Samoa deserve the same rights as every other American, yet with the current system, they have no power to correct it themselves, and therefore, as the nearest state with actual representation, it is up to Hawai'i to sound the alarm and bring justice to our fellow islanders.
Now you may have heard or seen that the US Territories do have Federal Representation and can vote for President. Both of these are half-truths. The Territories are each given 1 non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives, regardless of their population size; and no representative to the US Senate. If this is considered "representation", you'd hate to learn what "no representation" looks like. The House Delegates can introduce legislation, but aren't able to vote in favor of its passing and if it passes the House without their vote, then the legislation heads to the Senate where the territory is once again unable to vote in favor of its passing but is denied a voice completely with no representatives present. Then the Territories "can vote in US Presidential Primary Elections", but without representation in the US Electoral College, the vote is merely for show and has no effect on the outcome of the general election.
To begin to fix this unjust system of representation we must accomplish 3 things: 1. Give all the territory delegates to the US House of Representatives the full right to vote in all Legislative Sessions. 2. Give each territory a voting-member representative to the US Senate. 3. Give each territory voting representation in the US Electoral College, based on each territory's population. This will give every territory the basic representation they require to have their voices heard, while more representation will be made available should an individual territory vote to request statehood, receiving the same voting rights as all states.