{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-releases-remarks-hands-dc-rally", "Norton Releases Remarks from \u201cHands Off D.C.\u201d Rally", "2023-03-08", "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) spoke at a \u201cHands Off D.C.\u201d rally today, emphasizing that the federal government should leave local D.C. laws to D.C. residents and D.C.\u2019s own duly-elected public officials. The Senate is expected to vote on a disapproval resolution that would nullify local D.C.\u2019s Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA) today.\n\n\u201cWe have come together today with one simple message for Congress and President Biden: keep your hands off D.C. You either support D.C. home rule or you don\u2019t. There are no exceptions and there is no middle ground on D.C.\u2019s right to self-government,\u201d Norton said.\n\n\u201cAlthough these last few weeks have been deeply disappointing, this attack on home rule is also an opportunity to make the case to the country that D.C. needs statehood. I will continue to fight with you to protect home rule and to make D.C. the 51st state.\u201d\n\nNorton\u2019s remarks follow in full, as prepared for delivery.\n\nCongresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton\n\nSpeech for Hands Off DC Rally\n\nMarch 8, 2023\n\nThank you very much for being here today. I am grateful to the many groups across the District of Columbia that helped organize this event. We have come together today with one simple message for Congress and President Biden: keep your hands off D.C. You either support D.C. home rule or you don\u2019t. There are no exceptions and there is no middle ground on D.C.\u2019s right to self-government.\n\nLater today, the Senate is expected to pass a disapproval resolution that would nullify D.C.\u2019s Revised Criminal Code Act. The president went out of his way to announce he will sign it. It would be the first D.C. disapproval resolution enacted into law since 1991 and only the fourth disapproval resolution enacted since D.C. achieved the limited home rule it has today 50 years ago.\n\nThe Revised Criminal Code Act was duly enacted by D.C.\u2019s elected government. Nonpartisan experts spent many years drafting it. After holding three hearings on the bill, the D.C. Council passed it by votes of 12-0 and 13-0. The mayor vetoed the bill. The Council voted to override the veto by a vote of 12-1. The bill, in short, was the product of a democratic process.\n\nWhat is happening in Congress is undemocratic. None of the 535 voting members of Congress were elected by D.C. residents. None of them are accountable to D.C. residents. Yet if they vote in favor of the disapproval resolution, they are choosing to substitute their policy judgments for the judgment of D.C.\u2019s elected leaders. They will choose to govern D.C. without its consent. The nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are worthy and capable of self-government.\n\nI am deeply concerned that the president\u2019s decision to sign the disapproval resolution, along with the large bicameral, bipartisan majorities that are expected to pass the disapproval resolution, will only embolden Republicans to interfere in D.C.\u2019s local affairs. We expect Republicans to not only try to pass more standalone bills overturning D.C. policies, but also to try to use must-pass legislation, such as the debt limit and appropriations bills, to attack D.C. policies. They may also try to limit D.C.\u2019s general authority to legislate, including abolishing home rule altogether.\n\nI thank you all for making your voices heard to defend D.C. home rule. Although these last few weeks have been deeply disappointing, this attack on home rule is also an opportunity to make the case to the country that D.C. needs statehood. I will continue to fight with you to protect home rule and to make D.C. the 51st state.\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-hands-dc-rally"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9200498461723328, "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"}