Eleanor Holmes Norton: “I appreciate the generosity of the gentleman for yielding. First, let me set straight that the District of Columbia gets…”

“I appreciate the generosity of the gentleman for yielding. First, let me set straight that the District of Columbia gets not one single benefit that any other Member who pays taxes--except we pay taxes without representation--not one single benefit that is any different from what other members get. Secondly, on marijuana decriminalization, I respect the differences we have there, and the States are experimenting now. The District has only decriminalized marijuana, and recently, a member of the council introduced an amendment--which I bet you the other 18 States have not done--to educate our young people about marijuana, so that they don't go off and try it. Nobody is for smoking marijuana--I wish we hadn't smoked all those cigarettes, there would be millions of people alive if we hadn't--but we really don't want to see people go to jail for possessing marijuana, and we don't want to live in a city where the only people who get arrested for possessing marijuana are people who look like me. This is a city full of college students. They don't get arrested. Those who get arrested are African Americans because the police patrol those areas more sternly than others. We are asking for racial justice, but above all, we are asking for local control. I want to say one thing about your citing of the Constitution. You are absolutely right.…”