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Norton Says New Republican Budget Makes the Best Case for Respecting D.C. Home Rule

March 15, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called on House Republicans to apply the principle of local control emphasized in their fiscal year 2017 budget, released today, to the local affairs of the District of Columbia. The budget makes a strong argument for ending congressional interference in D.C. affairs: “[T]his budget would give our states and local municipalities the freedom and flexibility to pursue a reform movement that meets the unique needs and challenges of their communities. We are humble enough to admit that the federal government does not have all the answers. The American people ought to be trusted to make the right decisions for themselves, their families, and their enterprises. Putting our faith in the people will respect and restore the principle of federalism in America.”

“We must remain stunned by the Republicans’ willful blindness to applying their own overwhelming preference for local control to the District of Columbia,” Norton said. “Republicans claim to respect the wisdom of the decisions of the citizens of every state and city, except for the almost 700,000 citizens who live in D.C. Like other Americans, D.C. residents, not Republicans in Congress, know what is best for our hometown. As the appropriations process begins, I call on Republicans to respect D.C. home rule and let D.C., a local government, govern its own affairs without congressional interference.”

Republicans in the House and Senate, led by those running for president, have introduced many bills this Congress to overturn local D.C. laws, including on guns, reproductive health, marijuana, anti-discrimination, education, labor and immigration. Norton has defeated every standalone bill. Currently, the fiscal year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill prevents the District from spending its local funds on abortion services for low-income women and on commercializing marijuana.