Republicans Again Show Contempt for Democracy; Refuse to Allow Washington D. C. Representative to Testify in Hearing on Laws for Washington, D. C.

Committee Chairman from Arizona Knows What Best for D. C. Residents

This Forum has often remarked on the problem many Republicans have with democracy.  When the voting is expected to go in their favor they are all for it.  When voting is expected to go against them, they do everything they can to deny having a vote at all.  And when voters like low income people and minorities are expected to vote against them they do everything they can to discourage and prevent those people from voting.

Congress has large powers over the local government of Washington D. C.  In an act of unexpected non-generosity Congress has allowed the District to have a single, non-voting member of Congress, although what purpose that serves other than public relations is not clear.  One thing that members of Congress do get to do though that might be relevant  is testify on bills that affect their local districts.

But members of Congress are often allowed to testify at hearings, apart from any witness quota, if a bill specifically affects their districts.

The Republican member of Congress who heads the committee that is involved with D. C. legislation doesn’t like anyone to interfere with his rule.  So in hearings about an anti-abortion rights bill he refused to allow the District’s sole non-voting Representative to testify.

D. C. Delegate Norton - Doesn't Have a Right to Vote
Hm, Where Have We had That Before?

Norton, who was also not allowed to speak on an abortion measure last year, called it “the denial of a common courtesy” to a fellow member.

And of course the Republican who is doing this is totally unqualified to be involved with local District matters.

Rep. Trent Franks’s district in suburban Phoenix is two time zones away from Washington, a fact not lost on D.C. leaders as the Arizona Republican presided Thursday over the latest in a long series of attempts to control social issues in the nation’s capital.

None of the testimony was going to matter because Republicans in the House were going to impose their own views on D. C. regardless of the positions of the local residents, but it is another indication of how Republicans feel about the rule of law, democracy and the role of citizens in the United States.  Simply put, if you don’t agree with Republicans then you have no role.