[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 DEMOCRACY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] is 
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, many are new to Congress this year and the 
Republican majority is altogether new in having the obligation to get 
13 appropriations through the House of Representatives. The District of 
Columbia appropriation is the only one remaining.
  The District of Columbia appropriation is a PILOT, a payment in lieu 
of taxes, like those in virtually every State in the Union. It is not a 
grant. We are paid because the Federal Government preempts much of the 
prime land in the District and we cannot develop on that land and 
because we cannot develop above a certain height.
  Unlike last year, there is plenty of reason to vote for the District 
budget this year. We had a very severe struggle last year, but on the 
merits this year, the budget went through appropriation hearings 
without controversy. Why? Because there is a control board in place 
that keeps things in check, because employees have given a whopping 12-
percent give-back, and because the District has downsized 20 percent, 
twice as many positions as the Congress asked for.
  Yet, there are propositions before the subcommittee mark this 
afternoon that no Republican and no Democrat can embrace. Some of these 
propositions would force law on people, even though the Congress is not 
accountable to those people, because it would force changes in local 
law.
  It is surely a principle of this House that only through the ballot 
can basic law be changed. Only those who can reject or embrace what you 
do have a right to have law made for them. The governing theme of the 
104th Congress, my colleagues, is devolving power back to the 
localities. You cannot have any credibility with that theme if you 
usurp local power here in the District of Columbia.
  Mr. Speaker, many in the majority find much in this nine-to-one 
Democratic city with which to disagree. Yes, you are Republicans, you 
are in the majority. Most of us are Democrats. Surely you would not 
want to force Republican change in the manner of congressional 
dictators. That surely cannot be your desire.
  To be sure, the Constitution gives you some powers over the District 
of Columbia, but James Madison did not mean for you to overturn local 
laws. He meant you to guard the Federal presence. This is a Democratic 
city, so who can be surprised that there is rent control? Some would 
take back, overturn rent control, and put their own version of 
decontrol place instead of our version of decontrol. Some would 
privatize our schools. The Mayor wants to privatize some of our 
schools. Many on the schoolboard want to do that. If we are not doing 
it fast enough for you, wait a while. This is a democracy. This is 
America.

  Mr. Speaker, for 20 years there have been high-profile controversial 
restrictions put on our appropriation, but never has the Congress tried 
to change mainstream council legislation. I ask you in the name of 
democracy not to do it today.
  What is being proposed is a radical departure from basic democracy, 
an invasion into the very body of home rule itself. I ask you not to do 
it. I ask you to be true to your own principles. Put yourself in my 
place. Put yourself in the place of the people whom I represent. They 
do not have full help-governing powers. Please leave them with what 
self-government powers they have. Please remember this afternoon in the 
subcommittee, in the full Committee on Appropriations, and when our 
budget comes to this House, that almost all of that budget is raised in 
the District of Columbia.
  Above all, remember that this is America, that you are Americans, and 
that we are Americans. The Speaker himself came to a town meeting in my 
district. It was a gutsy and important and historic moment, and he said 
before all the people I represent, I do not intend to micromanage the 
affairs of the District of Columbia, I do not intend that home rule be 
overturned. I believe the Speaker. I ask you to follow the Speaker. I 
ask you to respect the rights of the people I represent.
  This is the first time that the District of Columbia budget will come 
before a Republican majority in 20 years of home rule. The country is 
watching; not just my constituents. The entire country is watching.
  Will the Republican majority force its will on a Democratic city that 
is powerless to fight back, that has no voting representation on the 
floor of this House, that has no representation whatsoever in the 
Senate of the United States, though we are fourth per capita in income 
taxes paid in this country among the 50 States? Please respect our 
rights. Please treat the people I represent as you and your 
constituents would be treated.

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