Congresswoman Norton: Voters Want President Biden to Uphold D.C.’s Criminal Code and Protect the District’s Home Rule
By Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
On March 8th, the Senate passed a disapproval resolution to nullify the democratically-passed local D.C. Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA), a bill 15+ years in the making that was passed unanimously by the duly-elected members of the D.C. Council. Although the Biden Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy opposing the resolution, mere weeks after its issuance, the President committed to signing the disapproval resolution into law, which would mark the first time local D.C. legislation has been nullified via a disapproval resolution since 1991.
Because D.C. is not a state, it faces unique challenges, including congressional interference in the District’s own local laws. Under the Home Rule Act, passed in 1973 and signed into law by President Nixon, local D.C. laws must be transmitted to Congress for a review period of either 30 or 60 days, depending on the type of law. During the review period, any member of Congress can introduce a disapproval resolution. If the disapproval resolution is enacted, the disapproval resolution becomes law and prevents the local D.C. legislation from taking effect.
What happened in Congress was undemocratic. None of the 535 voting members of Congress were elected by D.C. residents. None are accountable to D.C. residents, yet the members who voted for the disapproval resolution to overturn the RCCA substituted their policy judgments for the judgment of D.C.’s own elected leaders. Most members of Congress chose to devote their power, attention, and resources to interfering in local D.C. policy – a district they do not represent – without D.C.’s consent.
Recent polling by Data for Progress shows that a plurality of voters, 46 percent, agree that President Biden should respect D.C.’s autonomy and right to self-governance by vetoing the disapproval resolution. That view is supported by 10 points more than the 36 percent who think the president should sign the disapproval resolution, demonstrating that Americans value the ideals of autonomy, self-governance, and consent of the governed.
D.C.’s 700,000 residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are worthy and capable of self-government. The permanent remedy to protect the autonomy of the people who live, work, and vote in the nation’s capital is for Congress to pass my D.C. statehood bill. D.C. residents pay the highest federal taxes per capita and more federal taxes than 23 states, and the District has a bond rating higher than 35 states. D.C. residents have fought and died in every war since the Revolution, and they deserve voting representation in Congress and full local self-government. Statehood would provide D.C. voting representation in the House and Senate – and crucially – protection from congressional and executive branch interference in the District’s local affairs. If D.C. had statehood, Congress and the president would not be able to nullify D.C.’s democratically-passed local laws.
The House has passed my D.C. statehood bill twice in the last two Congresses, bringing us closer than ever to achieving equality with the states. Prior Data for Progress polling shows that 54 percent of Americans support statehood for D.C. When the District’s status of taxation without representation was noted in the poll, 58 percent of Americans support statehood – even 42 percent of Republicans.
Even in the face of a historic setback, the polling data and the two recent House passages of the D.C. statehood bill are reasons to hope. We dare to believe that statehood for the residents of the nation’s capital is on the horizon.
Congresswoman Norton serves as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia.