This committee has a tough job - coming up with a new map in which two of Ohio's 18 Congressional districts are eliminated. Democratic Rep. Kathleen Clyde of Kent says in many big elections, Ohio has been almost evenly divided between the parties, and yet Republicans now dominate Democrats in Ohio's congressional delegation 13-5.
"I think that's a very clear - you don't have to be an expert in redistricting, which is a complicated process, to know that something's wrong there. That something's unfair, and that perhaps we're not being represented the way we should be in DC."
It's widely suspected that the district that's been occupied by Democrat Dennis Kucinich since 1996 will be a target of the Republican controlled panel, but no one's sure about which other representative's district will be absorbed into the remaining ones. Republican House Majority Floor Leader Matt Huffman is heading the committee.
"This process is about drawing a map that's first legal and fair. That's what this process is about. And it's a ten year plan that is, tries to take into account what's happening in the 2010 census. That's what the process is about."
Two other hearing dates are set for Tuesday and Wednesday, September 13 and 14. There's no actual deadline in law, but the real target for getting the maps in place is December 7, which is the last day candidates for Congress can file for the 2012 primary.
