Louise Slaughter: “this is an open rule. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking minority member, was consulted…”

“this is an open rule. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking minority member, was consulted throughout the process of developing this legislation, along with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), who is a fine chairman and a great Member, in the process of developing this legislation, a trend we hope will continue with developing other appropriations measures in the days ahead. I would further note that this version of the D.C. appropriations bill is much improved over past years. In fact, 35 of the 69 riders included by the subcommittee were eliminated at the full committee markup. Far too often, Congress takes it upon itself to micromanage the citizens of the District to advance an agenda that few of its residents share. Every year, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), my friend, has made eloquent pleas to this body, asking it to refrain from making social policy in the city that she represents. But it is not to be. While this is a much-improved bill, it is still flawed. The measure includes controversial prohibitions against using local funds, not a dime of Federal money, for abortion services and the needle exchange programs.”