[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA LEGISLATIVE AUTONOMY ACT OF 2009

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 10, 2009

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, last week, I introduced the District of 
Columbia Budget Autonomy Act. Today, I am introducing its fraternal 
twin, the District of Columbia Legislative Autonomy Act of 2009, to end 
discriminatory and unnecessary congressional review of District of 
Columbia legislation. I introduce these bills in sequence because 
Congress makes a mockery of self-government when it denies the citizens 
of the nation's capital the right to enact a local budget, as well as 
civil and criminal laws, free from interference.
  In 2007, this bill was passed by the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, and the Budget Autonomy bill was cleared by the 
subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and District of 
Columbia that year as well. However, I decided to delay taking these 
bills to the floor because of threatened debilitating amendments and 
possible difficulties getting President Bush to sign these bills.
  The legislative autonomy bill would eliminate the 30 day and 60 day 
congressional review period for civil and criminal bills, respectively. 
Because the period of Congressional review involves only days when 
Congress is in session, not ordinary calendar days, bills signed by the 
mayor laws typically do not become law for months. A required hold on 
all D.C. bills forces the D.C. City Council to pass most legislation 
using a cumbersome and complicated process in which bills are passed 
concurrently on an emergency, temporary, and permanent basis to ensure 
that the operations of this large and rapidly changing city continue 
uninterrupted. Because of the complications and timeframes involved, 
some bills do not become law at all. The Legislative Autonomy Act would 
eliminate the need for the D.C. City Council to engage in this 
Byzantine process.
  The current law is an obsolete, demeaning, and cumbersome mechanism, 
which Congress no longer uses, and seldom used in the past. Yet, the 
D.C. City Council continues to be bound by Section 602 of the Home Rule 
Act, and therefore continues to abide by its awkward and debilitating 
rules. Our bill would do no more than align D.C. City Council and 
congressional practices. Instead of the cumbersome formal filing of 
disapproval resolutions that require processing in the House and the 
Senate, the Congress has preferred to use appropriations attachments. 
It is particularly unfair to require the D.C. City Council to engage in 
the tortuous process prescribed by the Home Rule Act that Congress 
itself has discarded. My bill would eliminate the formal review system 
that long ago died of old age and disuse. Congress has walked away from 
the layover review and should allow the city to do the same.
  Today's bill, of course, does not prevent review of District laws by 
Congress. Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the House and 
the Senate could scrutinize every piece of legislation passed by the 
D.C. City Council, if desired, and could change or strike such 
legislation under its plenary constitutional authority over the 
District. However, since the Home Rule Act became effective in 1974, of 
the more than 2,000 legislative acts that have been passed by the D.C. 
City Council and signed into law by the Mayor, only three resolutions 
to disapprove of a D.C. bill have been enacted, and two of these 
involved a distinct federal interest. Placing a hold on our 2,000 D.C. 
bills has not only proved unnecessary, but has meant untold wasted 
costs in terms of money, staff and time to the District and the 
Congress. Although 36 years of Home Rule Act history shows that 
congressional review is unnecessary, this bill merely eliminates the 
automatic hold placed on local legislation and the need for the D.C. 
City Council to use a phantom process passed for the convenience of 
Congress, but one that Congress has eliminated in all but law.
  Congress continually urges the District government to pursue 
efficiency and savings. It is time for Congress to do its part to 
promote greater efficiency, both here and in the District, by 
streamlining its own redundant and discarded review processes. 
Eliminating the hold on D.C. legislation would not only save scarce 
D.C. taxpayer revenue, but would benefit the city's bond rating, which 
is affected by the shadow of congressional review that delays the 
finality of District legislation. At the same time, Congress would not 
give up any of its plenary power because the Congress may intervene 
into any District matter at any time under the Constitution.
  The limited legislative autonomy granted in this bill would allow the 
District to realize the greater measure of meaningful self-government 
and Home Rule it deserves and has more than earned in the 36 years 
since the Home Rule Act became effective. I urge my colleagues to pass 
this important measure.

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