DC Council urges Congress to respect Initiative 59 results
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To declare, on an emergency basis, the sense of the Council on respecting the rights of the electorate of the District and request the Congress of the United States not impede the implementation of the voters' decision.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the "Sense of the Council on Initiative 59 Emergency Resolution of 1999".
Sec. 2. The Council finds that:
(1) The right of Americans to vote, to have their votes tallied, and to have the results of a lawful election put into effect, is at the heart of the American system of democracy.
(2) The District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics, in accord with the decision of the United States District Court, has counted and certified the votes cast November, 1998 on District Initiative 59, "The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998."
(3) Initiative 59 was approved by sixty-nine percent of District voters overall and by large margins in every precinct of every ward in the city, reflecting the caring and compassionate response of District voters to pleas from patients suffering with cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, and other serious illnesses.
(4) The Mayor has expressed his continuing support for Initiative 59.
(5) Congress continues, as it has for over a half-century, to spend billions of American dollars and to put thousands of Americans in harm's way upholding democracy and the right to meaningful elections around the world.
Sec. 3 It is the sense of the Council that:
(1) The District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority should promptly approve Initiative 59 and the Council urges the Authority to do so.
(2) The Congress and Federal Government of the United States should refrain from interference with the mandate of the District's citizens, as expressed through their overwhelming support of Initiative 59, and from imposing additional life-threatening hardship on patients already stricken with cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, and other serious illnesses.
Sec. 4 The Secretary of the Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit copies of this resolution upon its adoption to the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, the District of Columbia Delegate to the United States Congress, and to the chairpersons of the committees of the United States Congress with oversight and budgetary jurisdiction over the District of Columbia.
Sec. 5 Effective date. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
