Norton Demands Congress Keep D.C. Government Open, and Will Speak at Mayoral Press Conference Today

Norton Makes New Effort to Demand House and Senate Keep D.C. Government Open, and Will Speak at Mayoral Press Conference Today

April 6, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that Norton will appear at D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray's press conference today at 2 p.m., John A. Wilson Building, Room G-9, to call on the House and Senate to immediately pass her bill to allow the District of Columbia government to remain open if the federal government shuts down on Friday. Norton's bill, the District of Columbia Fiscal Year 2011 Local Funds Continuation Act, would permit the District to spend its local funds for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. Although the District raises and manages its own $8 billion budget, Congress technically appropriates these local funds back to the District, a holdover from the pre-home-rule period. Under the current continuing resolution, the District's authority to spend its local funds expires when the resolution expires on Friday. Norton has tried to attach her bill as an amendment to other must-pass bills, but the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee has rejected her amendment each time.

Norton said, "The Republicans rejected my amendments on the grounds that they were moot, since they said the federal government would not shut down. Now that we are 48 hours from a shutdown, and the House has recently informed Members to prepare for a shutdown, Republicans no longer has any excuse to not immediately adopt my bill. Most of my colleagues, as well as most Americans, would be astonished to discover that the local government of the nation's capital will shut down if the federal government shuts down, even though the city passed its budget last spring and a Senate committee approved it last summer. D.C. residents are not alone in relying on vital District services. Federal officials, including the president and Members of Congress, federal buildings, foreign embassies and dignitaries, and businesses rely daily on the city's services, as well. I find it ironic that the House Republicans have spent countless hours of floor and committee time in the first few months of this Congress violating the District's home rule. They must now find the time to keep the District open in the event of a federal government shutdown."