Norton Asks for the Courtesy of Testifying Against a Bill Targeting D.C. Home Rule, Abortion Services for Low-Income Women
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that House Republicans "could not get past the day after returning for the second session of the 113th Congress without attacking the right of the District of Columbia to self-government." Norton today wrote to Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ), chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, to request to testify at a hearing on a bill that would, among other things, permanently prohibit the District from spending its local funds on abortion services for low-income women, and would define D.C. as part of the federal government for purposes of abortion. The hearing on H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which is sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and has 139 cosponsors, is scheduled for January 9, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building. The Senate companion bill (S. 946) is sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and has 23 cosponsors.
In her letter, Norton wrote, "As the only Member of either house elected by and accountable to the residents of the District of Columbia, I hope you will permit me to represent the views of my constituents at the hearing."
"Republican serial attempts to usurp a local jurisdiction's authority by intentionally violating women's constitutional rights to reproductive freedom is an affront not only to the District, but a direct violation of our local government's home rule," said Norton. "Their inability to understand these basic principles of local authority is as egregious and groundless as the bill itself. In keeping with basic principles of local control and democracy, Congress delegated its legislative authority over the District of Columbia to an elected local government in 1973, except for a small number of enumerated exceptions. The right to reproductive choice was not among those exceptions."
The bill passed the House last Congress (112th Congress), but was not taken up by the Senate. Last Congress, the same subcommittee denied Norton the right to testify on this bill and on a bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks in D.C., but, no other jurisdiction. Franks' denial of the courtesy to a member to testify on a provision of a bill affecting only her district created a national controversy that caught the attention of women and the media throughout the country. Consequently, last year, in the first session of the 113th Congress, the subcommittee scheduled a hearing on the D.C. 20-week abortion ban bill, and Norton was offered the ability to testify. Norton declined the offer because Chairman Franks thereafter announced before the hearing that he would amend the bill and extend the ban nationwide.
The full text of the letter follows.
January 7, 2014
Dear Chairman Franks:
As a Member of the House of Representatives, I write to request the courtesy of testifying at Thursday's hearing on H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, particularly considering that my district, the District of Columbia, is the only district singled out by the bill. The bill would, among other things, permanently prohibit the District from spending its local funds on abortion services for low-income women, and would define the District as part of the federal government for purposes of abortion. I very much appreciate that you granted my request last year to testify on H.R. 1797, the District of Columbia Pain Capable Abortion Act, which affected only my district. Ultimately, I declined to testify on the bill after you announced before the hearing that the bill would be amended to apply nationwide. I ask for a similar courtesy of testifying on H.R. 7.
As the only Member of either house elected by and accountable to the residents of the District of Columbia, I hope you will permit me to represent the views of my constituents at the hearing.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Published: January 7, 2014