Norton Blocks Republican D.C. Gun Amendments and Will Fight to Remove Rider Repealing D.C. Budget Autonomy Referendum and Defeat Amendment Blocking D.C. Anti-Discrimination Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that she was able to keep the three Republican amendments to the House fiscal year 2017 District of Columbia appropriations bill targeting D.C.’s gun safety laws from being made in order by the House Rules Committee yesterday. The Rules Committee made in order only one D.C. amendment offered by Republicans—an amendment filed by Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL) to block D.C. from enforcing the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), which prohibits employers in D.C. from discriminating against employees, their spouses or their dependents based on their reproductive health decisions. A Norton amendment to strike the rider that repeals the referendum passed in 2013 by D.C. voters that granted the District budget autonomy was made in order.

Last year, the House voted to overturn RHNDA through a disapproval resolution, the first such vote on a D.C. disapproval resolution in almost 25 years, but the Senate did not take up that resolution. The House Appropriations Committee-passed fiscal year 2016 D.C. appropriations bill contained the RHNDA rider, but Norton was able to keep it out of the fiscal year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill.

The D.C. appropriations bill was scheduled to go to the House floor today, but its consideration will likely be delayed by Democrats, including Norton, who engaged in a historic sit-in on the House floor for gun safety legislation. When the bill is considered, Norton offer her budget autonomy amendment and, in addition, will manage floor debate in opposition to the RHNDA amendment. She will request recorded votes on both amendments. Norton said she was grateful that ahead of the vote on the bill, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, Forward Together, and SisterSong announced they will “score” Members’ votes on the amendment to block RHNDA. Norton also thanked the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State for sending letters to Members opposing the RHNDA amendment.

“We have a real fight ahead, but we are off to a good start with the important win of keeping all three anti-home-rule gun amendments from being considered,” Norton said. “Now the focus of the D.C. debate will be where we want it—on my amendment to remove the anti-home-rule rider blocking the budget autonomy referendum, overwhelmingly passed by D.C. voters. And I will not give up on fighting the riders blocking D.C. from spending its local funds on abortion for low-income women or on taxing and regulating marijuana, even though my amendments to eliminate those riders were not made in order. I will carry those fights to the Senate.”

Norton also announced that the D.C. Council has now transmitted the local portion of its fiscal year 2017 budget for a 30-legislative day review period. Under the budget autonomy referendum, which is the law of the land after being upheld by the D.C. Superior Court, the D.C. Council adopted the local portion of its budget and submitted it directly to Congress like any other D.C. law, rather than having the President submit the budget to Congress for approval. Last month, the House passed a stand-alone bill repealing the referendum. The text of the bill is included in the appropriations bill.