Eleanor Holmes Norton

I think the fact that we are having this hearing today points to how important WMATA is, of course, to its immediate region, but also to the Federal Government itself.

That's very important what you just said.

This bill is a compromise bill, so we have right there two different versions and then the final version.

I want to apologize to people who have come to this hearing expecting to hear profound, principled reasons why, since the birth of the Nation, the District should have had budget autonomy over its own local budget.

So if you are Mr. Mendelson or the city council and you have a court order from the superior court, it seems at the very least we ought to agree that Mr. Mendelson and the council are protected.

To me, it's shameful that the community housing the Federal Government is not afforded the same rights to self-government as all others across the country.

More recently, House Republicans passed for the second time this Congress a misguided D.C. voucher bill that was not only not requested by the District.

I regret that the committee has seemingly abandoned those bipartisan efforts in recent years.

Without budget autonomy, if the Federal Government shuts down, the D.C. government shuts down too.

My concern is, as I've expressed it before, that with the Local Budget Autonomy Act, which will allow officials of the District to spend money that is not appropriated by Congress, that people could find that there are some violations of…

It is time for congressional Republicans to get on board.

The chairman of this committee seemed to also threaten jail time for the D.C. city Mayor for implementing the city's marijuana legalization law.

I have consistently supported autonomy for the District and would argue that Congress' actions have actually had a deleterious effect on the District, its management, and its residents.

I regret that Mr. Nathan had to relitigate superior court decision.

In reclaiming my time, there was no difference, and yet improving academic performance was a stated reason for the voucher program. I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

In reclaiming my time, I think they would be because they have families behind them, and they are being compared with students who often do not. I yield to the gentleman.

In reclaiming my time, the gentleman has brought up a very important point. By the way, some of the students who accept this voucher are already in the private schools, so they already could obviously afford the program. They are already…

Public schools in the United States and big cities are improving, and it should be noted that the D.C. Public Schools district continues to be the fastest improving urban school district in the United States, according to data released…

I want the gentleman from Minnesota to know that there are waiting lines in the District of Columbia to get into many D.C. public schools and, of course, into many charter schools. We also know nothing about the schools that tell us 90…

If the gentleman is so concerned about the millions of parents who can't afford to send their children to private schools, his caucus had the perfect opportunity this year, because they have such a strong majority, to, in fact, pass…

I certainly hope--Mr. Chairman, I very much appreciate your indulgence because I certainly--as I said, our committee moved unanimously and the House moved unanimously on this.

I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Norcross). This is his bill.

I'm going to ask you to submit to the chairman within 30 days a date where you--proposed date when you think that WMATA will no longer be put on these kinds of restrictions that keeps it from getting money owed it.

Sir, I asked you a very specific question. My time is running out.

But you've not done short-term borrowing before?