Norton Grateful to Senator Hatch for Invaluable Help on D.C. Voting Rights and on Judges for D.C. District Court

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) for his "friendship and for his long, honorable and productive service to the nation" in the United States Senate after he announced he would retire at the end of the year. Hatch coauthored the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, which would have provided a House vote for the citizens of the District and an additional House vote for the citizens of Utah, which had narrowly missed getting a new House seat after the 2000 census. In 2008, Hatch published an essay, entitled "‘No Right is More Precious in a Free Country': Allowing Americans in the District of Columbia to Participate in National Self-Government," in the Harvard Journal on Legislation, arguing the bill was constitutional and that Congress should pass it. In his essay, Hatch wrote, "I believe that the present legislation is the proper way to remedy an injustice that has lasted for too long….Americans in the District should be allowed to participate in selecting a representative, which the Supreme Court has called ‘the essence of a democratic society' and ‘the heart of representative government.'" In addition, when Hatch was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995-2001, he worked closely with Norton to help her get President Clinton's nominees to the D.C. District Court through the Senate.

The D.C. House Voting Rights Act was passed by the Senate in 2009, but a National Rifle Association-backed amendment to wipe out D.C.'s gun laws was added and caused Norton and D.C. officials to withdraw the bill before a House vote, where passage was expected. Norton noted that when the bill passed the Senate, six Republicans voted for it, and, in 2007, when the bill previously passed the House, 22 Republicans voted for it, including Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Paul Ryan.

"I want to thank Senator Hatch personally and for the residents of the District of Columbia for his fairness to us and especially for his leadership and dedication on the legislation that nearly brought voting rights to the residents of the District of Columbia," Norton said. "Senator Hatch and I became friends as we worked on the D.C. voting rights bill and on judges for the D.C. District Court. He was a remarkable partner who put aside politics to embrace principle, whether on D.C. voting rights or on federal judges for the federal district court here. Senator Hatch was a leader in the effort to show that D.C. voting rights is not a partisan issue, and his efforts were critical to the bipartisan support the bill received. He leaves a place in the Senate to be filled by Republicans and Democrats, proud of their affiliation with their parties, but prouder still to think through what is best for their country and then to have the courage to act on it."