Norton Statement on Senate Passage of Disapproval Resolution to Overturn D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the Senate voted to pass the disapproval resolution to overturn the local D.C. Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement:

"Yesterday’s Senate vote marked the first time in three decades that the Senate has voted for a disapproval resolution under the D.C. Home Rule Act to overturn a piece of legislation passed by the duly-elected D.C. Council," Norton said. "While we are discouraged that both chambers have now passed such a resolution for the first time since 1991, we are not defeated. I will continue working to convince President Biden that his intention to sign the disapproval resolution is incompatible with his Statement of Administration Policy opposing the very same resolution, irreconcilable with his support for the idea of D.C. statehood, and in direct contradiction to his administration’s statement that '[T]axation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded,' a quote from his Statement of Administration Policy supporting D.C. statehood.

“However, even if President Biden signs the resolution and denies D.C. residents the very self-governance that he has claimed to support, this chapter of D.C.’s continuing fight for autonomy is, in itself, a powerful argument for the full rights that can only be provided by D.C. statehood. Statehood would give the nearly 700,000 residents of the nation’s capital voting representation in Congress and full local self-government, and would ensure that Congress and the Executive Branch will never again be able to overturn local D.C. laws. I will not stop until the job is done.”

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