Norton Statement on Lee Attempt to Pass Resolution Disapproving D.C. Minor Consent for Vaccine Bill on Senate Floor
Statement
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement after Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today asked for unanimous consent (UC) on the Senate floor to pass his resolution (S.J.Res. 7) disapproving the District of Columbia's Minor Consent for Vaccinations Amendment Act of 2020, which would permit minors capable of informed consent to receive a vaccine without parental consent. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) objected to the UC request and therefore the request was denied.
"Thank you, Senator Carper, for objecting to Senator Lee's latest attack on D.C. home rule. The D.C. Mayor and Council understand D.C. and its residents as Senator Lee never will, including how best to vaccinate our residents. Senator Carper has long been a leading ally in the District's fight for statehood and control over our own affairs. Perhaps Senator Lee should focus on the ample work he has to do to vaccinate people in his own state, instead of spending his time trying to prevent D.C. from vaccinating its residents."
Lee, who professes to support local control over local affairs, has been a chronic abuser of Congress' anti-democratic power over D.C., introducing legislation to overturn D.C.'s occupational licensing laws and create a new D.C. Council committee on occupational licensing; to ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District; and to allow discrimination against D.C.'s LGBTQ residents. Norton has defeated all of these bills.
Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, D.C. bills must be transmitted to Congress for a review period before they can take effect. A bill takes effect at the expiration of the review period unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during that period. Only three disapproval resolutions have ever been enacted into law. Norton has prevented a disapproval resolution from being enacted into law since March 12, 1991.
Representative Michael Cloud (R-TX) has introduced the companion disapproval resolution (H.J.Res. 25).
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