[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 51 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 51

  To provide for the admission of the State of New Columbia into the 
                                 Union.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 5, 1993

  Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                 Committee on the District of Columbia

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the admission of the State of New Columbia into the 
                                 Union.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``New Columbia Admission Act''.

SEC. 2. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION.

    Subject to the provisions of this Act, and upon issuance of the 
proclamation required by section 7(d)(1) of this Act, the State of New 
Columbia (hereinafter referred to as ``the State'') is declared to be a 
State of the United States of America, is declared admitted into the 
Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects 
whatever, and the constitution adopted by the Council of the District 
of Columbia in the Constitution for the State of New Columbia Approval 
Act of 1987 (D.C. Law 7-8), subject to ratification by a majority of 
the registered qualified electors of the District of Columbia, is found 
to be republican in form and in conformity with the Constitution of the 
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence and 
is accepted, ratified, and confirmed.

SEC. 3. CONSTITUTION.

    The constitution of the State of New Columbia shall always be 
republican in form and shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of 
the United States and the principles of the Declaration of 
Independence.

SEC. 4. TERRITORIES AND BOUNDARIES.

    (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, the State of New 
Columbia shall consist of all of the territory, together with the 
territorial waters, of the District of Columbia. The State of New 
Columbia shall not include the National Capital Service Area of the 
District of Columbia, which is described in subsection (b). As of the 
date of admission of New Columbia into the Union, the District of 
Columbia shall consist of the National Capital Service Area.
    (b) The National Capital Service Area, subject to the provisions of 
section 16, is comprised of the principal Federal monuments, the White 
House, the Capitol Building, the United States Supreme Court Building, 
and the Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings 
located adjacent to the Mall and the Capitol Building.
    (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of 
section 16, the boundaries of the State of New Columbia shall include 
the District Building.

SEC. 5. COMPACT WITH UNITED STATES; CLAIMS TO FEDERAL LANDS AND 
              PROPERTY.

    (a) As a compact with the United States, the State and its people 
disclaim all right and title to any lands or other property not granted 
or confirmed to the State or its political subdivisions by or under the 
authority of this Act, the right or title to which is held by the 
United States or subject to disposition by the United States.
    (b)(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall recognize, deny, 
enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any claim against the United 
States, and any such claim shall be governed by applicable laws of the 
United States.
    (2) Nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed as a 
finding, interpretation, or construction by the Congress that any 
applicable law authorizes, establishes, recognizes, or confirms the 
validity or invalidity of any such claim, and the determination of the 
applicability or effect of any law to any such claim shall be 
unaffected by anything in this Act.
    (c) No taxes shall be imposed by the State upon any lands or other 
property now owned or hereafter acquired by the United States, except 
to the extent as Congress may permit.
    (d)(1) Upon the admission of the State of New Columbia into the 
Union, the annual Federal payment authorized to be appropriated to the 
District of Columbia shall be authorized to be appropriated to the 
State of New Columbia. Nothing in this Act is intended to alter the 
basis for the Federal payment to the District of Columbia or the State 
of New Columbia.
    (2) Not later than 7 months before the beginning of each fiscal 
year, the Governor shall submit a report to Congress on the effects of 
the presence of the seat of the Federal Government within or adjacent 
to the State on the revenues and expenditures of the State, and shall 
include in the report information relating to--
            (A) services rendered to the Federal Government and 
        services rendered because of the State's proximity to the seat 
        of the Federal Government, and the cost to the State of 
        providing such services;
            (B) potential revenues lost because of the presence of the 
        Federal Government within or adjacent to the State, including 
        Federally-imposed height or other restrictions on buildings 
        located within the State and revenues not obtainable because of 
        a lack of taxable property and business income within the 
        State; and
            (C) potential revenues gained because of the presence of 
        the Federal Government within or adjacent to the State.
    (3) At the time the Governor submits the report described in 
paragraph (2) to Congress, the Governor shall submit copies of the 
report to the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the 
Office of Management and Budget, who shall submit reports to Congress 
analyzing the Governor's report not later than 30 days after receiving 
copies of the report.
    (e) The State may not change any provision of its Constitution 
concerning height limitations on buildings without the consent of 
Congress.
    (f) Nothing in this Act or the Constitution or laws of the State 
may be construed to permit the State to refuse to allow an individual 
to serve as a qualified registered elector of the State solely because 
the individual resides in the National Capital Service Area.

SEC. 6. STATE TITLE TO LANDS AND PROPERTY.

    (a) The State of New Columbia and its political subdivisions shall 
have and retain title or jurisdiction for purposes of administration 
and maintenance to all property, real and personal, with respect to 
which title or jurisdiction for purposes of administration and 
maintenance is held by the territory of the District of Columbia as of 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) All laws of the United States reserving to the United States 
the free use or enjoyment of property which vests in or is conveyed to 
the State of New Columbia or its political subdivisions pursuant to 
this section or reserving the right to alter, amend, or repeal laws 
relating thereto shall cease to be effective upon the admission of the 
State of New Columbia into the Union.

SEC. 7. ELECTIONS.

    (a)(1) Not more than sixty days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the President of the United States shall certify such enactment to 
the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Not more than thirty days after 
such certification the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall issue a 
proclamation for the elections, subject to the provisions of this Act, 
for officers of all State elective offices provided for by the 
constitution of the proposed State of New Columbia and for two Senators 
and one Representative in Congress.
    (2) In the first election of Senators from the State (pursuant to 
paragraph (1)) the two senatorial offices shall be separately 
identified and designated, and no person may be a candidate for both 
offices. No such identification or designation of either of the two 
senatorial offices shall refer to or be taken to refer to the terms of 
such offices, or in any way impair the privilege of the Senate to 
determine the class to which each of the Senators elected shall be 
assigned.
    (b) The proclamation of the Mayor of the District of Columbia 
required by subsection (a) shall provide for the holding of a primary 
election and a general election and at such elections the officers 
required to be elected as provided in subsection (a) shall be chosen by 
the people. Such elections shall be held, and the qualifications of 
voters shall be, as prescribed by the constitution of the proposed 
State of New Columbia for the election of members of the proposed State 
legislature. Election returns shall be made and certified in such 
manner as the constitution of the proposed State of New Columbia may 
prescribe. The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall certify the 
results of such elections to the President of the United States.
    (c)(1) At an election designated by proclamation of the Mayor of 
the District of Columbia, which may be the primary or the general 
election held pursuant to subsection (b), a territorial general 
election, or a special election, there shall be submitted to the 
electors qualified to vote in such election, for adoption or rejection, 
the following propositions:
            (A) New Columbia shall immediately be admitted into the 
        Union as a State.
            (B) The boundaries of the State of New Columbia shall be as 
        prescribed in the New Columbia Admission Act and all claims of 
        the State to any areas of land or sea outside the boundaries so 
        prescribed are hereby irrevocably relinquished to the United 
        States.
            (C) All provisions of the New Columbia Admission Act, 
        including provisions reserving rights or powers to the United 
        States and provisions prescribing the terms or conditions of 
        the grants of lands or other property made to the State of New 
        Columbia, are consented to fully by the State and its people.
    (2) In the event the propositions under paragraph (1) are adopted 
in such election by a majority of the legal votes cast on such 
submission, the proposed constitution of the proposed State of New 
Columbia, adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia in the 
Constitution for the State of New Columbia Approval Act of 1987 (D.C. 
Law 7-8), shall be deemed amended accordingly.
    (3) In the event any one of the propositions under paragraph (1) is 
not adopted at such election by a majority of the legal votes cast on 
such submission, the provisions of this Act shall cease to be 
effective.
    (4) The Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and 
directed to take such action as may be necessary or appropriate to 
ensure the submission of such propositions to the people. The return of 
the votes cast on such propositions shall be made by the election 
officers directly to the Board of Elections of the District of 
Columbia, which shall certify the results of the submission to the 
Mayor. The Mayor shall certify the results of such submission to the 
President of the United States.
    (d)(1) If the President finds that the propositions set forth in 
subsection (c)(1) have been duly adopted by the people of New Columbia, 
the President, upon certification of the returns of the election of the 
officers required to be elected as provided in subsection (a), shall 
issue a proclamation announcing the results of such election as so 
ascertained. Upon the issuance of such proclamation by the President, 
the State of New Columbia shall be deemed admitted into the Union as 
provided in section 2 of this Act.
    (2) Until the State of New Columbia is admitted into the Union, 
individuals holding legislative, executive, and judicial offices of the 
District of Columbia, including the Delegate in Congress from the 
District of Columbia, shall continue to discharge the duties of their 
respective offices. Upon the issuance of such proclamation by the 
President of the United States and the admission of the State of New 
Columbia into the Union, the officers elected at such election, and 
qualified under the provisions of the constitution and laws of such 
State, shall proceed to exercise all the functions pertaining to their 
offices in, under, or by authority of the government of such State, and 
offices not required to be elected at such initial election shall be 
selected or continued in office as provided by the constitution and 
laws of such State. The Governor of such State shall certify the 
election of the Senators and Representative in the manner required by 
law, and the Senators and Representative shall be entitled to be 
admitted to seats in Congress and to all the rights and privileges of 
Senators and Representatives of other States in the Congress of the 
United States.

SEC. 8. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERSHIP.

    The State of New Columbia upon its admission into the Union shall 
be entitled to one Representative until the taking effect of the next 
reapportionment, and such Representative shall be in addition to the 
membership of the House of Representatives as now prescribed by law, 
except that such temporary increase in the membership shall not operate 
to either increase or decrease the permanent membership of the House of 
Representatives or affect the basis of apportionment for the Congress.

SEC. 9. LAWS IN EFFECT.

    Upon admission of the State of New Columbia into the Union, all of 
the territorial laws then in force in the Territory of the District of 
Columbia shall be and continue in force and effect throughout the 
State, except as modified or changed by this Act, or by the 
Constitution of the State, or as thereafter modified or changed by the 
legislature of the State. All of the laws of the United States shall 
have the same force and effect within the State as elsewhere in the 
United States.

SEC. 10. CONTINUATION OF SUITS.

    (a) No writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding pending in 
any court of the District of Columbia or in the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia shall abate by reason of the 
admission of the State of New Columbia into the Union, but shall be 
transferred and shall proceed within such appropriate State courts as 
shall be established under the constitution of the State, or shall 
continue in the United States District Court for the District of 
Columbia, as the nature of the case may require. And no writ, action, 
indictment, cause, or proceeding shall abate by reason of any change in 
the courts, but shall proceed within the State or United States courts 
according to the laws thereof, respectively. The appropriate State 
courts shall be the successors of the courts of the District of 
Columbia as to all cases arising within the limits embraced within the 
jurisdiction of such courts, respectively, with full power to proceed 
with such cases, and award mesne or final process therein, and all 
files, records, indictments, and proceedings relating to any such writ, 
action, indictment, cause, or proceeding shall be transferred to such 
appropriate State courts and shall be proceeded with therein in due 
course of law.
    (b) All civil causes of action and all criminal offenses which 
shall have arisen or been committed prior to the admission of the 
State, but as to which no writ, action, indictment, or proceeding shall 
be pending at the date of such admission, shall be subject to 
prosecution in the appropriate State courts or in the United States 
District Court for the District of Columbia in like manner, to the same 
extent, and with like right of appellate review, as if such State had 
been created and such State courts had been established prior to the 
accrual of such causes of action or the commission of such offenses. 
The admission of the State shall effect no change in the substantive or 
criminal law governing causes of action and criminal offenses which 
shall have arisen or been committed, and any such criminal offenses as 
shall have been committed against the laws of the District of Columbia 
shall be tried and punished by the appropriate courts of the State, and 
any such criminal offenses as shall have been committed against the 
laws of the United States shall be tried and punished in the United 
States District Court for the District of Columbia.

SEC. 11. APPEALS.

    Parties shall have the same rights of appeal from and appellate 
review of final decisions of the United States District Court for the 
District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 
any case finally decided prior to the admission of the State of New 
Columbia into the Union, whether or not an appeal therefrom shall have 
been perfected prior to such admission. The United States Court of 
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court of 
the United States shall have the same jurisdiction in such cases as by 
law provided prior to the admission of the State into the Union. Any 
mandate issued subsequent to the admission of the State shall be to the 
United States District Court for the District of Columbia or a court of 
the State, as appropriate. Parties shall have the same rights of appeal 
from and appellate review of all orders, judgments, and decrees of the 
United States District Court for the District of Columbia and of the 
highest court of the State of New Columbia, as successor to the 
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in any case pending at the time 
of admission of the State into the Union, and the United States Court 
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court 
of the United States shall have the same jurisdiction therein, as by 
law provided in any case arising subsequent to the admission of the 
State into the Union.

SEC. 12. JUDICIAL AND CRIMINAL PROVISIONS.

    Effective upon the admission of New Columbia into the Union--
            (1) Section 41 of title 28, United States Code is amended 
        in the second column by inserting ``, New Columbia'' after 
        ``District of Columbia''.
            (2) The first paragraph of section 88 of title 28, United 
        States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``The District of Columbia and the State of New Columbia comprise 
one judicial district.''.

SEC. 13. MILITARY LANDS.

    (a) Subject to subsection (b) and notwithstanding the admission of 
the State of New Columbia into the Union, authority is reserved in the 
United States for the exercise by the Congress of the United States of 
the power of exclusive legislation, as provided by article I, section 
8, clause 17, of the Constitution of the United States, in all cases 
whatsoever over such tracts or parcels of land located within the State 
of New Columbia that, immediately prior to the admission of the State, 
are controlled or owned by the United States and held for defense or 
Coast Guard purposes.
    (b)(1) The State of New Columbia shall always have the right to 
serve civil or criminal process within such tracts or parcels of land 
in suits or prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired, 
obligations incurred, or crimes committed within the State but outside 
of such tracts or parcels of land.
    (2) The reservation of authority in the United States for the 
exercise by the Congress of the United States of the power of exclusive 
legislation over such lands shall not operate to prevent such lands 
from being a part of the State of New Columbia, or to prevent the State 
from exercising over or upon such lands, concurrently with the United 
States, any jurisdiction which it would have in the absence of such 
reservation of authority and which is consistent with the laws 
hereafter enacted by the Congress pursuant to such reservation of 
authority.
    (3) The power of exclusive legislation shall vest and remain in the 
United States only so long as the particular tract or parcel of land 
involved is controlled or owned by the United States and used for 
defense or Coast Guard purposes, except that the United States shall 
continue to have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over such military 
installations as have been or may be determined to be critical areas as 
delineated by the President of the United States or the Secretary of 
Defense.

SEC. 14. UNITED STATES NATIONALITY.

    No provision of this Act shall operate to confer United States 
nationality, to terminate nationality lawfully acquired, or to restore 
nationality terminated or lost under any law of the United States or 
under any treaty to which the United States is or was a party.

SEC. 15. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

    No law or regulation which is in force on the effective date of 
this Act shall be deemed amended or repealed by this Act except to the 
extent specifically provided herein or to the extent that such law or 
regulation is inconsistent with this Act.

SEC. 16. NATIONAL CAPITAL SERVICE AREA.

    (a) The National Capital Service Area referred to in section 4 is 
more particularly described as follows:
            Beginning at the point on the present Virginia-District of 
        Columbia boundary due west of the northernmost point of 
        Theodore Roosevelt Island and running due east of the eastern 
        shore of the Potomac River;
            thence generally south along the shore at the mean high 
        water mark to the northwest corner of the Kennedy Center;
            thence east along the north side of the Kennedy Center to a 
        point where it reaches the E Street Expressway;
            thence east on the expressway to E Street Northwest and 
        thence east on E Street Northwest to Eighteenth Street 
        Northwest;
            thence south on Eighteenth Street Northwest to Constitution 
        Avenue Northwest;
            thence east on Constitution Avenue to Seventeenth Street 
        Northwest;
            thence north on Seventeenth Street Northwest to 
        Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest;
            thence east on Pennsylvania Avenue to Jackson Place 
        Northwest;
            thence north on Jackson Place to H Street Northwest;
            thence east on H Street Northwest to Madison Place 
        Northwest;
            thence south on Madison Place Northwest to Pennsylvania 
        Avenue Northwest;
            thence east on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest to Fifteenth 
        Street Northwest;
            thence south on Fifteenth Street Northwest to Pennsylvania 
        Avenue Northwest;
            thence southeast on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest to John 
        Marshall Place Northwest;
            thence north on John Marshall Place Northwest to C Street 
        Northwest;
            thence east on C Street Northwest to Third Street 
        Northwest;
            thence north on Third Street Northwest to D Street 
        Northwest;
            thence east on D Street Northwest to Second Street 
        Northwest;
            thence south on Second Street Northwest to the intersection 
        of Constitution Avenue Northwest and Louisiana Avenue 
        Northwest;
            thence northeast on Louisiana Avenue Northwest to North 
        Capitol Street;
            thence north on North Capitol Street to Massachusetts 
        Avenue Northwest;
            thence southeast on Massachusetts Avenue Northwest so as to 
        encompass Union Square;
            thence following Union Square to F Street Northeast;
            thence east on F Street Northeast to Second Street 
        Northeast;
            thence south on Second Street Northeast to D Street 
        Northeast;
            thence west on D Street Northeast to First Street 
        Northeast;
            thence south on First Street Northeast to Maryland Avenue 
        Northeast;
            thence generally north and east on Maryland Avenue to 
        Second Street Northeast;
            thence south on Second Street Northeast to C Street 
        Southeast;
            thence west on C Street Southeast to New Jersey Avenue 
        Southeast;
            thence south on New Jersey Avenue Southeast to D Street 
        Southeast;
            thence west on D Street Southeast to Washington Avenue 
        Southwest;
            thence southeast on Washington Avenue Southwest to E Street 
        Southeast;
            thence west on E Street Southeast to the intersection of 
        Washington Avenue Southwest and South Capitol Street;
            thence northwest on Washington Avenue Southwest to Second 
        Street Southwest;
            thence south on Second Street Southwest to Virginia Avenue 
        Southwest;
            thence generally west on Virginia Avenue to Third Street 
        Southwest;
            thence north on Third Street Southwest to C Street 
        Southwest;
            thence west on C Street Southwest to Sixth Street 
        Southwest;
            thence north on Sixth Street Southwest to Independence 
        Avenue;
            thence west on Independence Avenue to Twelfth Street 
        Southwest;
            thence south on Twelfth Street Southwest to D Street 
        Southwest;
            thence west on D Street Southwest to Fourteenth Street 
        Southwest;
            thence south on Fourteenth Street Southwest to the middle 
        of the Washington Channel;
            thence generally south and east along the midchannel of the 
        Washington Channel to a point due west of the northern boundary 
        line of Fort Lesley McNair;
            thence due east to the side of the Washington Channel;
            thence following generally south and east along the side of 
        the Washington Channel at the mean high water mark, to the 
        point of confluence with the Anacostia River, and along the 
        northern shore at the mean high water mark to the northernmost 
        point of the Eleventh Street Bridge;
            thence generally south and east along the northern side of 
        the Eleventh Street Bridge to the eastern shore of the 
        Anacostia River;
            thence generally south and west along such shore at the 
        mean high water mark to the point of confluence of the 
        Anacostia and Potomac Rivers;
            thence generally south along the eastern shore at the mean 
        high water mark of the Potomac River to the point where it 
        meets the present southeastern boundary line of the District of 
        Columbia;
            thence south and west along such southeastern boundary line 
        to the point where it meets the present Virginia-District of 
        Columbia boundary; and
            thence generally north and west up the Potomac River along 
        the Virginia-District of Columbia boundary to the point of 
        beginning.
    (b) Where the area in subsection (a) is bounded by any street, such 
street, and any sidewalk thereof, shall be included within such area.
    (c)(1) Any Federal real property affronting or abutting, as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the area described in subsection (a) 
shall be deemed to be within such area.
    (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) Federal real property 
affronting or abutting such area described in subsection (a) shall--
            (A) be deemed to include, but not limited to, Fort Lesley 
        McNair, the Washington Navy Yard, the Anacostia Naval Annex, 
        the United States Naval Station, Bolling Air Force Base, and 
        the Naval Research Laboratory; and
            (B) not be construed to include any area situated outside 
        of the District of Columbia boundary as it existed immediately 
        prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, nor be 
        construed to include any portion of the Anacostia Park situated 
        east of the northern side of the Eleventh Street Bridge, or any 
        portion of the Rock Creek Park.

SEC. 17. STATEHOOD TRANSITION COMMISSION.

    (a) There is established a Statehood Transition Commission.
    (b) The Commission shall be composed of thirteen members appointed 
as follows:
            (1) three shall be appointed by the President;
            (2) two shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House;
            (3) two shall be appointed by the President of the Senate;
            (4) three shall be appointed by the Mayor of the District 
        of Columbia; and
            (5) three shall be appointed by the Council of the District 
        of Columbia.
    (c) The Commission shall advise the President, the Congress, the 
Mayor, the Council, and the Governor and House of Delegates for the 
State of New Columbia, as appropriate, concerning necessary procedures 
to effect an orderly transition to statehood for the District of 
Columbia and other matters relating to the assumption of the property, 
functions, and activities of the District of Columbia by the State of 
New Columbia during the first 2 years of the existence of the State of 
New Columbia. The Commission shall submit such reports as the 
Commission considers appropriate or as may be requested.
    (d) The Commission shall cease to exist 2 years after the date of 
the admission into the Union of the State of New Columbia.

                                 <all>

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