James Norton: “I do believe I have a right to be more frustrated than most because mine is not a case of delay in funding Federal…”

“I do believe I have a right to be more frustrated than most because mine is not a case of delay in funding Federal agencies. It is more complicated than that. You are asking me to put an entire city of half a million people on hold, the city that I represent. It is important for the House to be aware of what happens when we put a city on hold. In this high-crime big city, 175 new police officers now cannot be hired; 88 new firefighters, to help fill out the depletion that occurred when the District was in financial crisis in the 1990s, cannot be hired. We have five new charter schools, and that is what this Congress has most wanted. They are now in operation. We have the largest number of charter schools in the United States, but there is no money for these new charter schools, making their start very shaky, because they are already in operation. School has begun. There is $4.5 million for school recreation centers to get our kids off the streets during the busy crime hours between 3 and 6; that is on hold.”