Eleanor Holmes Norton: “I ask the House to celebrate the District of Columbia, one of only eight big cities with a AAA bond rating. Indeed, only…”

“I ask the House to celebrate the District of Columbia, one of only eight big cities with a AAA bond rating. Indeed, only 22 of the States have a AAA bond rating. This outsized performance should encourage Congress to recognize the D.C. budget autonomy law, which would improve D.C.'s credit profile even more. Fully respecting D.C.'s budget autonomy also would mean lower taxes and less Federal funds the District needs from the Federal Government. I have already gotten the rating agencies to count as a positive to D.C.'s credit rating my annual provision in the D.C. appropriation exempting D.C. from the threat of shutdowns when the Federal Government shuts down. Seven-hundred thousand D.C. residents pay the highest Federal taxes per capita in the United States. The rating agencies have awarded D.C. for ``exemplary fiscal governance.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to do the same by recognizing D.C.'s budget autonomy over its own 100 percent local budget. ____________________”