Mobile Menu - OpenMobile Menu - Closed

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

Representing the District of Columbia

Places in Washington DC

Norton to Force House Floor Vote on Restoring D.C.’s Delegate Vote in Committee of the Whole, Today

Jan 3, 2017
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will force a vote on the House floor to restore the vote of District of Columbia delegate on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole today, Tuesday, January 3, 2017, at approximately 2:40 p.m.  Her motion, written as required by the House, seeks to prevent the Republican majority from voting on the rules for the new Congress, which deny the D.C. delegate vote in the Committee of the Whole, until a special committee has studied and made a determination on the delegate vote.  The motion will be offered before Members begin debate on the House rules resolution, interrupting the process before it begins.  The vote will take place after the Speaker and Minority Leader address the chamber.

“As the District struggles for statehood and full voting rights, we will not let any other right go unclaimed,” Norton said.  “We particularly mean to recover the Committee of the Whole vote we have earned and exercised, upheld as constitutional by two federal courts.”

Norton held a press conference this morning with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Office of Veterans Affairs Director Ely S. Ross calling on Congress to restore D.C.’s delegate vote on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole.  The Committee of the Whole vote would allow the delegate representing the District to vote on amendments on the House floor.  The House rules have permitted Norton to vote in the Committee of the Whole in three Congresses: the 103rd, 110th, and 111th.

In December, Norton sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) requesting that the House rules for the 115th Congress permit the District delegate to vote on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole.  Speaker Ryan voted for the D.C. House Voting Rights Act of 2007 (H.R. 1905), which would have granted the District full voting rights in the House.  The 115th Congress will be the first time Ryan is speaker when the House rules are adopted.

###