Norton Fights Attempts to Re-Insert Amendments to DC Appropriations (7/14/09)

Norton Fights Attempts to Re-Insert Amendments to D.C. Appropriations

July 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today asked the House Rules Committee to deny Republican attempts to "throw the book at D.C." by inserting or re-inserting nine amendments to the D.C. Appropriations bill, including the oldest D.C. riders, two bans on use of local funds for abortions for low-income women, an extension of the school vouchers program beyond students currently enrolled in private schools, two marriage riders to nullify laws the District passed recognizing same-sex marriages, two prohibitions on gun regulations, a requirement that District officials comply with local and federal laws regarding youth detention facilities, and a ban barring the District from deciding whether to use marijuana for medical purposes. Norton votes on the House Floor on amendments.

"The Republican minority wants to bring back the old days when they had a field day with D.C. Appropriations, imposing their personal views or those of their constituents on a self-governing jurisdiction of 600,000 residents in the nation's capital," Norton said. "Most members, even from their Caucus, would rather not play this game anymore. The time and effort is difficult to explain back home, and we intend to expose members who interfere with our business rather than attending to their own," she added. "We have won these fights since Democrats took control of Congress. I particularly appreciate that my colleagues voted to remove the controversial needle exchange prohibition that contributed disproportionately to D.C.'s high HIV rate and AIDS deaths. The prohibition on using local funds to lobby for voting rights, was perhaps the most outrageous open assault on democracy since the 1974 Home Rule Act."

The 3 p.m. Rules hearing today conflicts with the hearing Norton requested on the Metro collision at 2 p.m. in room 2247. However, she has written the Rules Committee opposing all the amendments. Between noon and 2 p.m. she will also manage a resolution in memory of the nine victims, including seven from the District of Columbia, who died in the June 22 Metro Collision, and recognizing those who were injured.