{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-releases-remarks-cbc-press-conference-dc-home-rule-attacks", "Norton Releases Remarks from CBC Press Conference on D.C. Home Rule Attacks", "2023-03-30", "2023", "2023-03", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Holmes Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", "norton", "https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks from yesterday\u2019s press conference hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Steven Horsford (D-NV) to show opposition to the disapproval resolution reported out of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability (COA) yesterday. If enacted, the disapproval resolution would nullify D.C.\u2019s Justice and Policing Reform Act.\n\n\u201cThank you, Chair Horsford, for organizing yesterday\u2019s press conference to show the CBC\u2019s united opposition to the Republican efforts to overturn D.C.\u2019s policing reform legislation,\u201d Norton said. \"I say to the Republican members of Congress: Keep your hands off D.C.\n\n\u201cCongress has 535 voting members, elected by the residents of each district. None of the voting members are elected by, or accountable to, D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not like how the members vote, even on legislation that applies only to D.C. such as this disapproval resolution, they cannot vote the members out of office. Members who vote in favor of this disapproval resolution are choosing to substitute their policy judgment for the judgment of D.C.\u2019s duly elected representatives, effectively governing D.C. without its consent.\"\n\nNorton\u2019s remarks follow, as prepared for delivery.\n\nMy thanks to the CBC for holding this press conference on these outrageous attacks on D.C. Home Rule.\n\nIt is true that Congress has the constitutional authority to legislate on local D.C. matters, but it is false that Congress has a constitutional duty, obligation or responsibility to do so. Instead, legislating on local D.C. matters is a choice. This disapproval resolution is a choice.\n\nSome of my Republican colleagues claim that the founders meant for Congress to control D.C., but in Federalist 43, James Madison said about the residents of the federal district: \u201c[A] municipal legislature for local purposes, derived from their own suffrages, will of course be allowed them.\u201d The Supreme Court has held that Congress may delegate \u201cfull legislative power\u201d to D.C. on local D.C. matters.\n\nToday, the Oversight Committee is marking up profoundly undemocratic, paternalistic legislation. This one-sentence legislation would nullify legislation enacted by D.C.\u2019s duly elected representatives.\n\nD.C.\u2019s local legislature, the D.C. Council, has 13 members. The members are elected by D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not like how the members vote, they can vote them out of office. That is called democracy.\n\nAfter the murder of George Floyd, many states and D.C. passed police accountability and transparency legislation. The Council has repeatedly passed emergency, temporary and permanent versions of police accountability and transparency legislation. The legislation that would be blocked by this latest disapproval resolution was passed by the Council by votes of 11 to 0 and 13 to 0.\n\nCongress has 535 voting members. The members are elected by the residents of the several states. None are elected by, or accountable to, D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not like how the members vote, even on legislation that applies only to D.C., such as this disapproval resolution, they cannot vote the members out of office. Members who vote in favor of this disapproval resolution are choosing to substitute their policy judgment for the judgment of D.C.\u2019s duly elected representatives. They will choose to govern D.C. without its consent.\n\nI can only conclude that these members of Congress believe that D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are either unworthy or incapable of governing themselves. D.C. voters are not children. They do not need protection from the decisions of their duly elected representatives by members of Congress from Kentucky, Georgia or anywhere else.\n\nThe Revolutionary War was fought to give consent to the governed and to end taxation without representation. Yet, the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents cannot consent to any action taken by Congress, whether on national or local D.C. matters, while paying full federal taxes\u2014indeed, D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and more total federal taxes than 23 states.\n\nIf Congress cared about democratic principles or D.C. residents, it would be passing my D.C. statehood bill, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act instead. Congress has the constitutional authority to admit the State of Washington, D.C. The House twice passed my statehood bill in the last two Congresses, and I call on the House and Senate to pass it in this Congress.\n\nMy heartfelt thanks go out to the members of Congress, especially those in the CBC, who support statehood for the District and are fighting with me to protect its home rule. To those who support the status quo and support this attack on D.C.\u2019s sovereignty, I have only one thing to say to you: keep your hands off D.C.!\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:30:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-releases-remarks-cbc-press-conference-dc-home-rule-attacks"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8447049185633659, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}