Today's Date: May 17, 2024
GC congratulates NatureWorks and Krungthai Bank on closing a significant financing deal for NatureWorks' Ingeo PLA Manufacturing   •   Elinzanetant significantly reduces frequency and severity of moderate to severe hot flashes associated with menopause   •   20 Years is Too Long for Eritrean Pastors, Other Christians in Prison: The Voice of the Martyrs   •   Angeles Ventures Fund I Has Closed an Equity Investment from Bank of America   •   Macy’s, Inc. Board of Directors Declares Quarterly Dividend   •   Pleasant Valley Solar Project Partners Commit $123,000 in Scholarship Funds to Boise State University and College of Western Ida   •   Whitman-Walker Institute Decries Misleading Propaganda About Transgender Health During Congressional Hearing   •   Yelp Releases Environmental, Social and Governance Report   •   Rubicon Technologies to Hold First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call on May 20   •   HopSkipDrive Releases New Product Updates to Strengthen Client Experience   •   Building more child care spaces for families in British Columbia   •   University of Texas Wind Ensemble Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Historic Performance at Carnegie Hall, Sunday, June 2, 2024 a   •   The Home Depot Declares First Quarter Dividend of $2.25   •   Sun Noodle Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Egg in S&S Frozen Cup Saimin   •   Join Housecall Providers at Toss for a Cause: A Free, Community-wide Event Spotlighting Nonprofit Innovation in Elder and Disabi   •   Virtual Roundtable to Address Exploitation of Florida Seniors   •   AquaTech Eco Consultants Celebrates 10 Years of Environmental Excellence and Aquatic Restoration Expertise   •   Huron-Wendat Nation and the Government of Canada settle claim for Rockmont Reserve   •   Hanover Learning Ltd. Named in Top Sales Training organizations in North America 2024   •   UNITE HERE Local 11: Prominent Women’s Groups Pen Letter to Aimbridge Pressing for Action in Wake of Allegations of Sexual
Bookmark and Share

Norton Denied To Testify, Black Caucus Outraged


WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton was denied the right to testify at a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution hearing on H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, and specifically Section 310 of the bill, which seeks to prevent D.C. from spending its local taxpayer-raised funds to provide abortions for low-income residents. Norton was denied the opportunity to testify by Chairman Trent Franks, although Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler submitted Norton’s request to give testimony in advance, and although members of Congress are routinely given the courtesy to testify at any hearing of their choosing.

 

“Not only do Republicans seek to trample on D.C.’s rights as a self-governing jurisdiction, they apparently seek to trample on my right as a Member of Congress to participate in the legislative process by giving testimony on a bill that directly affects the District,” Norton said. “We will not give up on our efforts to use every legitimate means to stop all anti-home rule attempts to roll back the progress the District has made over the past four years, including today’s attempt to prevent D.C. from funding abortions for low-income residents.”

 

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver, II expressed concern and outrage over Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s denial to testify.

 

“I am extremely concerned that Congresswoman Norton was shut out of a very important hearing that affects the community in which she represents. Not only is it unfair, it’s disrespectful and I plan on speaking with Chairman Franks about this matter.”

 

 

 

Norton’s would-be testimony follows.

---

 

 

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

On H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

House Committee on the Judiciary

Subcommittee on the Constitution


 

First, I want to strongly object to the Committee Majority’s denial of my request to testify today, particularly in light of the fact that H.R. 3 singles out the local law and taxpayer funds of my district. I recognize that no Member panel was contemplated, but in my two decades in the Congress, I have never seen a Member turned away from testifying, and certainly not when her own district was targeted by a bill under consideration.

 

I strongly oppose the harsh anti-choice H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, in its entirety, but I am specifically compelled to discuss an unprecedented provision of the bill, Section 310, “Application to District of Columbia.” This provision is entirely unrelated to the purposes of the bill, which seeks not only to write the Hyde amendment into federal law and extend it permanently, but to go much further, threatening the health of millions of women. However, H.R. 3 goes haywire and crosses the line between autocracy and democracy to dictate to the self-governing District of Columbia that it may not spend its own local taxpayer-raised funds as it chooses.

 

The new House Republican Majority that rode into town on the wings of a promise for jobs has yet to introduce a jobs bill. Instead, they quickly reverted to type, giving top priority to controversial social issues. Two of their top bills are aimed uniquely at one local jurisdiction, the District of Columbia. One of these anti-home-rule bills, sponsored by the Speaker, targets the District with D.C.-only private school vouchers, although our residents have created a large, alternative public charter school system that almost half of our children attend and that is so successful, it has long waiting lists. To compound the injury, the new House Majority has included an outrageous provision in H.R. 3 that would federalize the District of Columbia for purposes of denying the city the right to spend its own local funds on abortions for low-income residents.

 

During the past four years, I worked to carry out the will of D.C. residents and our local government by successfully removing all of the accumulated appropriations riders that eliminated the District’s right to decide how to spend its local funds on behalf of its residents, including for abortion for low-income women.

 

H.R. 3, however, not only seeks to re-impose the ban on the District’s use of its local funds for abortion, but also to make it permanent. This bill presents a new and expanded way to deny the residents of the District of Columbia their democratic rights. Unlike the prior prohibitions on the District’s use of its local funds, Section 310 states that the “term ‘Federal Government’ includes the government of the District of Columbia.” Declaring that the District is a part of the federal government for the purpose of abortion is an unprecedented violation of the District’s right to self-government.

 

The District of Columbia is not a colony of the Congress. We refuse to submit the funds we alone raise and decisions about how to spend our own local funds to Members of the House. We will not let the Majority get away with supporting democracy everywhere on earth except its own nation’s capital. The House Majority goes many steps too far when they introduce a bill with such potential harm to all women and then try to make it worse for the women of the District of Columbia by taking down part of the local government’s authority in the process.

 

The new House Majority says it supports limiting the federal government’s power and devolving that power to the states and localities. This bill does the opposite by using federal power to snatch local authority from the District of Columbia and its people. The time has come to practice what the House Majority preaches.

 


STORY TAGS: BLACK NEWS, AFRICAN AMERICAN NEWS, MINORITY NEWS, CIVIL RIGHTS NEWS, DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, RACIAL EQUALITY, BIAS, EQUALITY, AFRO AMERICAN NEWS

Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News