Norton Still Striving to Retain D.C.'s Committee of the Whole Vote in the 112th Congress

Statement

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today issued the following statement:

"We have learned that the draft of the new House rules for the 112th Congress does not include a vote in the Committee of the Whole for the District of Columbia. Upon learning this information this morning, I called Speaker-designate John Boehner but he was not in. I have also asked for a meeting with him.

It would be very painful to have to inform residents that the only vote they have ever had on the House floor has been taken away. We have long understood the position of many of our Republican colleagues on the full House vote. However, we had hoped that the rules for our delegate vote would be retained next Congress for a number of reasons. There has been a definitive federal court ruling upholding the constitutionality of this vote. The delegates have repeatedly exercised this vote for years with no adverse effects on the House, with only positive effects for the federal taxpaying residents of the District.

Last month I explained in a letter to Mr. Boehner the unique offense residents have felt during the years they have paid taxes with no say whatsoever on the House floor. Residents have had to cope with no vote in Congress, but they have expressed particular consternation at the thought of losing the only vote they now possess.

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