Norton Vows to Fight Senator Mike Lee’s Anti-Home Rule Bill Addressing D.C. Council Meetings

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) told the Washington Post that he would introduce an anti-home rule bill to repeal recently passed local emergency legislation that amends D.C.'s Open Meetings Act, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) vowed to fight the bill's advancement in Congress. The D.C. Council last week passed a measure to amend the Open Meetings Act to allow the Council and mayor to meet in private on a limited number of matters. Emergency legislation in D.C. remains in effect for 90 days and is not subject to a congressional disapproval resolution. Lee threatened to introduce a disapproval resolution if the D.C. emergency legislation becomes permanent.

"There are more than 700,000 D.C. residents who live in D.C., and they include neither Senator Lee nor the people of Utah, who he represents in Congress," Norton said. "D.C. has a local legislature whose members are elected by D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not approve of how the members vote, they can vote them out of office. That is called democracy.

"The people of D.C. are worthy and capable of self-government without interference from members of Congress who are not accountable to D.C. I urge Senator Lee to turn his attention to his own constituents, and I will use all the tools at my disposal to fight his anti-home rule legislation's advancement in Congress."

###