Norton Calls Committee Markup of Bill to Overturn Parts of D.C.’s Policing Reform Law Paternalistic, Anti-Democratic
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the bill that the Committee on Oversight and Accountability passed today to repeal parts of D.C.’s local police accountability and transparency law represents a paternalistic, undemocratic incursion on the will of nearly 700,000 D.C. residents. The bill, the Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act of 2023, was introduced by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY).
"By voting to report out this bill out today, I can only conclude that the Republican committee members believe that D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are unworthy of governing themselves," Norton said. "I will continue fighting to defeat this and future actions seeking to override the will of D.C. residents expressed through the District’s own local government."
Last year President Biden vetoed a disapproval resolution that would have repealed all of the D.C. policing reform law, the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 (CPJRAA). The House failed to override the presidential veto. The bill the committee reported out today would (1) repeal the CPJRAA’s provisions that removed police officer disciplinary matters from collective bargaining; (2) reinstitute a 90-day limit on the police department to commence corrective or adverse action against a police officer or civilian employee; and (3) repeal the CPJRAA’s provision requiring the police department to publish on a public website a schedule of adverse hearings in which the proposed discipline for an officer is termination, including the date, time, and location of the hearing, the name and badge number of the officer, and a summary of the alleged misconduct or charges.
Norton’s markup statement follows.
Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Markup
H.R. 5798, the Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act of 2023
February 6, 2024
I strongly oppose this undemocratic and paternalistic bill. This is the seventh bill this Congress House Republicans have marked up or brought directly to the floor to repeal laws enacted by the duly elected District of Columbia government.
Congress has the constitutional authority to legislate on local D.C. matters, but it does not have a constitutional duty to do so. Instead, legislating on local D.C. matters is a choice. House Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that they believe D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are unworthy or incapable of governing themselves.
The D.C. Council has 13 members. The members are elected by D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not like how the members vote, they can vote them out of office. That is called democracy.
Congress has 535 full voting members. The members are elected by residents of their states. None are elected by D.C. residents. If D.C. residents do not like how the members vote on local D.C. matters, they cannot vote them out of office. This is the anthesis of democracy.
The legislative history and merits of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 should be irrelevant, since there is never justification for Congress repealing legislation enacted by D.C. Nevertheless, I would like to set the record straight.
The D.C. Council unanimously passed the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022. While the legislation was enacted without the D.C. mayor’s signature, the mayor urged Congress to oppose the disapproval resolution on the legislation.
The D.C. police department supported removing discipline from collective bargaining, eliminating the 90-day statute of limitations for discipline and allowing the police chief to increase proposed disciplinary penalties to make it easier to fire officers for serious misconduct. Moreover, disciplinary hearings have long been open to the public. Now the public finally can learn when and where they are occurring.
The Revolutionary War was fought to give consent to the governed and to end taxation without representation. Yet, D.C. residents cannot consent to any action taken by Congress, whether on national or local D.C. matters, and pay full federal taxes. Indeed, D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and more total federal taxes than 19 states.
If House Republicans cared about democratic principles or D.C. residents, they would bring my D.C. statehood bill, which would give D.C. residents voting representation in Congress and full local self-government, to the floor. Congress has the constitutional authority to admit the State of Washington, D.C. It simply lacks the will.
I am deeply concerned about the violent crime spike in D.C., and the D.C. Council is voting on legislation today that it believes will reduce crime. To suggest that Congress knows or cares more about public safety in D.C. than D.C. is patronizing.
I urge members to vote NO on this bill.
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