Norton Secures Long Sought Removal of All DC Riders (7/8/09)

Norton Secures Long Sought Removal of All D.C. Riders

July 8, 2009

WASHINTON, D.C. - Last night during the mark-up of the D.C. appropriations, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) finally achieved her goal of removing all the attachments that have riddled D.C. appropriations for many years. In addition, the Appropriations Committee approved the naming of the tuition assistance grant for members of the D.C. National Guard in honor of Major General David Wherley, who initially came to Norton seeking the appropriation she first obtained when she was in the Congressional minority. Norton announced last week at memorial services for the General and his wife that she would seek to name the grant in his honor.

The attachments removed were: the abortion rider, the oldest D.C. rider, banning use of local funds for abortions for low-income women, and a ban on allowing the District to decide whether to permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes, following a 1998 referendum when 69 percent of District voters favored use of marijuana for medical purposes. A rider that would have reinserted the ban on needle exchange program was defeated by voice vote, and riders that would have extended the use of vouchers for non-public schools beyond those students currently enrolled were defeated. Some expected a gun rider, and one still could be introduced on the Floor. The Congresswoman expects many of the riders that were removed to "pop up" again on the House Floor. Norton said that despite the partisan vote, with many Republicans voting to retain the riders, "we are in good shape to fight against every re-introduction of attachments into D.C. appropriations on the floor."

The Congresswoman asked that all riders be removed when Democrats gained control last term and this week she sent letters to Appropriations Committee members seeking removal of all riders, arguing that D.C. residents should be treated equally with other American citizens, who may spend local funds without federal interference.

Norton said, "last night was a major triumph for D.C. residents, who have spent years trying to get Congress to live up to the letter of the Home Rule Act. Every rider that overturns the D.C. City Council signals that Members of Congress believe that interference with our self-government rights is fair game. Last night, for the first time since the 1974 Home Rule, Congress laid that unearned prerogative on the table."