D.C. Protesters Bring Local Problems to ‘Pretend Mayor’ Trent Franks’ Office

D.C. activists may not have a vote in Congress, but they do have props and sarcasm, and they brought plenty of both to a protest outside Rep. Trent Franks’s office Wednesday.

D.C. Vote organized the rally outside the Arizona Republican’s office in the Rayburn Building in response to the hearing Franks held last week on his bill that would ban all abortions in the District after 20 weeks’ pregnancy. Local leaders view the bill as an intrusion on the city’s self-governance, while Frank, a strong abortion opponent, has pointed out that the Constitution grants Congress the authority to “exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever” in the District.

In that case, the protesters reasoned, Franks must be interested in solving all kinds of other local problems. But when they went to his office Wednesday to ask for help, the door was locked. The phones went straight to a full voice mail box. With the House on recess this week, Franks was likely out of town.

“We expect him to be here whether it’s recess or not, because there are a lot of issues to deal with here in the District,” said DC Vote head Ilir Zherka. “If he’s going to be D.C.’s pretend mayor, he needs to be here full-time.” . . .

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-wire/post/dc-proteste rs-bring-local-problems-to-pretend-mayor-trent-franks-office/2012/05/23/gJQABYX1kU_blog.html

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