Eleanor Holmes Norton: “These rules are a gratuitous attack on already limited rights of D.C. residents. Our residents have all the obligations…”

“These rules are a gratuitous attack on already limited rights of D.C. residents. Our residents have all the obligations of citizenship, including paying all Federal taxes, but are denied voting rights in Congress and full local self-government. To add insult to injury, these rules take away floor privileges of the D.C. Mayor. The rules continue to grant Governors and 16 other categories of people, including foreign ministers, floor privileges. Not only does D.C.'s Mayor operate like State Governors--including managing a jurisdiction that has both a budget and population larger than those of several States--but Congress has undemocratic plenary authority over D.C. and regularly uses this authority to legislate on local matters. While D.C. deserves statehood, if any non-member of Congress deserves and needs floor privileges, it is D.C.'s Mayor.”