Norton Prepares for Another Fight Against Republican Interference with District's Local Governing Rights
Norton Prepares for Another Fight Against Republican Interference with District's Local Governing Rights
October 31, 2011
Washington, DC—The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) learned today that Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plan to markup a bill on Thursday mandating new District of Columbia hiring practices, despite legislation pending before the D.C. Council addressing the same matters. The bill follows today's release of the findings of the committee Republicans' anti-home-rule and redundant investigation of the city's hiring practices. Committee Republicans launched their investigation even though there were three separate, ongoing local investigations into the hiring practices by a special committee of the D.C. Council; the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance; and the local prosecutor, the U.S. Attorney. "The bill represents a significant escalation of Republicans' relentless attacks this Congress on the District's right to self-government," Norton said. "Congress should never interfere in the District's local affairs, but the committee investigation and the bill are especially offensive in light of the fact that the city is already doing its home-rule job on the same matters. Now, only a few months after committee Republicans raised the specter of the Control Board in announcing a hearing on the city's local budget, where Republicans ultimately heard testimony from their own witnesses about the city's financial success and the benefits of budget autonomy, we have another brazen attack on the city's autonomy. This legislation will not pass the committee quietly, and if it makes it to the House floor, we will make it very clear that Republicans, who profess to support local control of local matters, are focused on partisan, ideological fights, not addressing Americans' top priority: jobs."