Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join today with my colleague, the gentlewoman from my neighboring congressional district, the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), in opposing this bill.
The District of Columbia's gun laws have already been upheld by the Federal courts as constitutional, so the second amendment argument in this context is just a bogus one.
This bill represents the height of arrogance. Members of this body have got to stop treating the District of Columbia and the people of the District of Columbia as their personal playground and playthings where they impose their will on people who did not elect them. The people of the District of Columbia elected the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton). They elected the Mayor. They elected the D.C. Council. They elected the people who put these gun control laws into effect. They didn’t elect the people who today want to repeal these laws.
This legislation is nothing more than a contemptible effort to placate certain special interests at the expense of the people of the District of Columbia.
Talk about a world upside down. The House Republican leadership has prohibited this body from taking a vote on extending the 1994 ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons; yet today it is rushing through a bill to impose its will against the wishes of the people of the District of Columbia.
Mr. Speaker, I will insert for the Congressional Record a letter from the representatives of the business community of Washington, D.C., the Washington Board of Trade, opposing this legislation.