Norton Closes Out House Floor Debate with Her Evaluation of the 113th Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Congress recessed last night until after the elections, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) chastised her colleagues in the House for closing with a package of deeply ideological bills that failed to move in the Senate.
"Usually, this is a time, as I have seen it under Republican congresses, when you make room for must-pass bills, not for never-to-pass bills or sure-to-be-vetoed bills," Norton said in her floor remarks. "Today certainly was not the time to make up for running through the 113th Congress with neither an agenda, nor legislation to show for it, perhaps to show that Congress was entitled to be paid for being here for two years."
Norton mentioned two bills that have broad appeal and "no ideological impact" that could easily have passed. She said that the Paycheck Fairness Act would require only minor changes to update the Employment Opportunity Act, which "nobody wants to repeal," and that the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act would give some relief to students who graduated only to find "debt and no jobs."
Norton concluded her remarks by saying, "Closing the Congress with a bunch of never-to-pass bills that nobody envisioned would be taken up will never make up for the shameful record of the 113th Congress."