http://www.billingsgazette.net/artic...rns-aliens.txt

Senator's bill would exclude illegal immigrants from congressional count
By NOELLE STRAUB
Gazette Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., introduced legislation Tuesday that would exclude illegal immigrants from state population counts when divvying up the 435 congressional seats, which could give Montana a second representative in the U.S. House.

The bill, called the Fair and Accurate Representation Act of 2006, would require the secretary of commerce, who oversees the Census Bureau, to adjust the total population figures so that illegal aliens are not counted when deciding how many representatives each state will get.

The act would leave it up to the commerce secretary to decide how to figure out how many illegal aliens live in each state.

The act says the secretary would use "such methods and procedures as the secretary determines feasible and appropriate" to ensure that illegal immigrants are not counted as part of the population when apportioning