The Republicans in the House of Representatives are bringing forward a bill that will attempt to clean up the streets of the nation’s capital.
Naturally, however, Democrats are not impressed with this new legislation. They have already made the claims that this bill is racist. Scroll down for the details.
Racism Claims All-Around
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, suggested on Wednesday that prejudice is to blame for conservatives’ efforts this week to ban non-citizens from participating in Washington, D.C.
A proposal that would oppose a D.C. council rule enabling non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants to register in the city was discussed by House members.
A number of Democrats spoke out against Republicans’ attempts to oversee the metropolitan area. Ocasio-Cortez went further by alleging the GOP appears to target different minorities.
Conservatives, she claimed, “say they have faith in the sacrosanct right to vote while limiting that privilege to a largely black city.” She charged them with attempting to “tamper in the affairs of D.C. citizens.”
Good morning… it's the first day of the 118th Congress and the new Republican majority.
The first bill I am introducing will BLOCK noncitizens from voting in Washington, DC.
— Rep. August Pfluger (@RepPfluger) January 3, 2023
Ocasio-Cortez noted that conservatives are only bringing up laws pertaining to Washington, D.C., despite other places around the nation allowing non-citizens to participate.
She claimed they were “going to single out District of Columbia people and extending the tradition of universal suffrage that dates back to the history of slavery.”
Just before legislators voted on removing Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ocasio-Cortez shouted at conservatives the other week.
Besides the bigotry and encouragement of violence against minority women in this body, she claimed, “there is nothing compatible with the Conservative Party’s continuous attack.”
The Nations Capitol!
Washington DC was specifically established as “the center of the government” in the founding documents.
Congress occasionally considers legislation affecting the district since it has the unusual power, granted by the Capitol Hill Home Rule Act, to veto measures approved by the D.C. Council.
REPUBLICAN Sen. Chas. Sumner (Mass) helped pass a bill that desegregated the trolley system in Washington, DC. 🇺🇲💚🇺🇲 pic.twitter.com/lMf73x1Z5g
— 🇺🇸Therese🇺🇲 (@ThereseOSulliv2) February 20, 2022
Rep. Lauren Boebert brought up that power during the House floor discussion on Wednesday. “We have to guarantee that D.C. is a dynamic capital city because Congress has authority over it,” she remarked.
According to GOP leaders, Washington has a stake in preventing the district from denying voting rights to American residents by allowing non-citizens to participate. Some have also said that granting non-citizens this power will simply exacerbate the border situation.
The D.C. law “starts sending the incorrect message to the individuals who are wanting to come into the United States illegally,” according to House Majority Whip Scalise. Scalise is a Republican from Louisiana who made this commentary this last week.
Conservatives also pointed out that the Washington Times editorial staff rejected the measure and that D.C. Mayor Bowser declined to sign it. On Thursday, the assembly will deliberate on the measure.
