Jun 16, 2005: WASHINGTON - Rep. Ernest Istook plans to co-sponsor a proposed constitutional amendment that would have prevented Oklahoma from losing one U.S. House seat if the plan had been in place in 2000, he said Wednesday.

The proposal, House Joint Resolution 53, would count only U.S. citizens in each state when congressional seats are being apportioned. Illegal aliens and others legally in the country who have not completed the naturalization process would not be counted in the apportionment of the 435 House seats.

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Michigan, introduced the proposed amendment last week. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

If it had been in effect for the 2000 Census, the plan would have shifted how nine House seats were apportioned, according to statistics from the Congressional Research Service.

California would have six fewer seats, while New York, Florida and Texas would have one fewer. Oklahoma, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Utah would have one additional seat.

If you're doing the math, then you may have noticed that, by the most amazing coincidence, this Republican-sponsored amendment not only disempowers non-citizens (always a GOP goal for some reason), but also would have shifted three electoral votes in 2004 from the Democratic to the Republican column, increasing a GOP lead by six votes.

Istook would get to ignore all those annoying brown-skinned people unless they had citizenship papers, plus his party would get more electoral votes. What's for him not to like?