D.C. Home-Rule Advocates Seek National Support

District of Columbia leaders said they expect congressional Republicans to try to change D.C. policies on gun control, gay marriage and other issues, and they're enlisting national advocacy groups to try to prevent that.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents D.C., said Wednesday that many members of Congress represent districts that have strict gun laws, gay marriage or needle exchange programs, and their constituents won't be happy to find out their representatives want to meddle with D.C. on such matters.

D.C. home-rule advocates have delivered a letter to members of an appropriations subcommittee that's signed by almost 100 organizations, many of which have a national presence. The letter asks Congress not to place riders on next year's budget that would restrict how D.C. can spend its local tax dollars.