Norton Grateful to Hoyer for Introducing Resolution to Restore Committee of the Whole Floor Vote
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked her good friend, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD-5), for introducing a House resolution to amend the House Rules and allow U.S. Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote on the House Floor in the Committee of the Whole. Norton first won a vote for the District of Columbia Committee of the Whole during the 103rd Congress, after submitting a legal memorandum arguing that the District had a vote in standing committees by rule of the House and paid all federal income taxes, and therefore, should have the similar vote on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole, which is also established by House rules. In 1993, House Democrats added the territories, who got the vote as well. The residents of the territories do not pay federal income taxes. Norton had the vote during the 103rd, 110th, and 111th Congresses, but it has been revoked when Republicans control the House.
"I am deeply appreciative that we have such a good friend in Mr. Hoyer, who repeatedly finds ways to exercise leadership and unwavering activism for full equality for residents of the District of Columbia," Norton said. "The vote in the Committee of the Whole is far from what District residents, who pay the highest amount of federal taxes per capita, deserve, but, shamefully. even this partial vote on the House floor is denied by Republicans to our residents."
On January 6, when the House Republican majority offered the Rules for the 114th Congress, Norton (D-DC), in an attempt to restore to the District's vote, offered a motion to retrieve her vote in the Committee of the Whole. The motion was denied, but her motion required a recorded vote. The day before, on January 5, Norton held a press conference with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. veteran and former director of the D.C. Department of Veteran's Affairs Kerwin Miller to emphasize the importance of the vote in the Committee of the Whole to D.C. residents, particularly those who have served in the military without a vote.