Norton Takes to House Floor For 30-Minute Speech on D.C. Marijuana & Gun Riders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will go to the House floor in the next hour to respond to the two most serious anti-home-rule amendments to come in years, Rep. Andy Harris' (R-MD) marijuana and Rep. Thomas Massie's (R-KY) gun amendments to the House's Fiscal Year 2015 D.C. Appropriations bill. Norton said these assaults on the District of Columbia's right to self-government deserve a "full-throated response."

"The District of Columbia is under attack by two Members who are completely unaccountable for their actions," Norton said. "These assaults on home rule, especially on our ability to protect our residents from dangerous weapons, deserve a full-throated response, which I intend to give today."

Last week, during Floor consideration of the bill, Representative Massie offered an amendment to block the District from spending its local funds to enforce its local gun laws. On Friday, a congressional staffer was arrested for bringing a gun into the Capitol complex. Under federal law, a person may not carry a gun on Capitol grounds, with a penalty of up to five years imprisonment. In May, the House approved the fiscal year 2015 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, which contains the funding for the U.S. Capitol Police. Representative Massie did not file an amendment to block the Capitol Police from spending its funds to enforce that federal law.

In June, Rep. Harris introduced an amendment in committee to the bill that blocks D.C. from spending its local funds on decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana.