[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 207 (Friday, December 22, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15579-H15580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NEVER BEFORE SUCH A CRISIS IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

[[Page H15580]]

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House this morning with a 
special plea. In 200 years of the Nation's Capital, there has never 
been a crisis like this. There has never been a crisis where this 
capital city has been left without a budget and forced to contemplate 
closing down.
  We have seen countless violations of home rule, all on the basis that 
it was your constitutional responsibility. Where is your constitutional 
responsibility to keep the city alive now? We have seen the abandonment 
of that responsibility for 3 months with no budget.
  It is pointless to continue to fight this fight on a voucher 
principle. You have the votes for vouchers. Bring it to the floor on 
your own motion. A standoff with the Senate, a body you do not control, 
on the backs of the District is wrong.
  At the very least, Congress must not leave town without granting a CR 
for the District of Columbia to spend its own money. It has a 
responsibility to treat the 500,000 human beings I represent as a city, 
and not as if they were a Federal agency. It is your constitutional 
responsibility.

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