[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 140 (Monday, September 28, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AVOIDANCE 
                              ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 28, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, although it appears the federal government 
will narrowly avert a shutdown on October 1, the second shutdown since 
2013, I rise today to offer the District of Columbia Government 
Shutdown Avoidance Act of 2015 to permanently authorize the District to 
spend its local funds during a federal shutdown and therefore to remain 
open during a shutdown. Congress has recently exempted D.C. from 
shutdowns on an annual basis, and this bill simply makes those 
exemptions permanent.
  The District has an $8 billion local budget, which is comprised 
entirely of local revenue sources, such as taxes and fees. The District 
should be free, as every state and city is, to spend its own local 
funds during a federal shutdown. The shutdowns involve congressional 
disputes about federal funding, but the federal government does not 
provide a dollar of D.C.'s local budget. The D.C. government should 
never have to wonder whether it will be part of a federal shutdown, 
have to prepare in case of a shutdown, or even have to ask Congress to 
be exempted annually. No Member of the House or Senate has spoken up in 
favor of shutting down the D.C. government, and I do not believe any 
Member wants to shut down the D.C. government and bring a large, 
complicated city to its knees over purely federal matters in which the 
city is not involved.
  There is unprecedented bipartisan and bicameral support, as well as 
support from the Obama administration, for preventing D.C. shutdowns. 
In fiscal years 2014 and 2015, for the first time ever, Congress 
exempted D.C. from shutdowns for an entire fiscal year (fiscal years 
2015 and 2016, respectively). The pending House and Senate fiscal year 
2016 D.C. Appropriations bills each exempt D.C. from shutdowns for 
fiscal year 2017.
  Among the most important reasons for a permanent shutdown exemption 
would be the significant financial and operational benefits for the 
District. If the District shuts down, it could default under certain 
financing agreements and leases. The financial importance of 
eliminating shutdown threats to the District were definitively shown 
recently. The three leading bond rating agencies have cited the annual 
shutdown exemption as a positive credit factor in upgrading or 
maintaining their ratings on the District's bonds. The city's partners, 
Wall Street and vendors alike can charge a risk premium for the 
uncertainty created by shutdown threats. A permanent shutdown exemption 
would undoubtedly improve D.C.'s creditworthiness even more.
  The 650,000 D.C. residents do not suffer alone when vital city 
services cease during a shutdown. Federal officials, federal buildings, 
foreign embassies and dignitaries, businesses and tourists rely daily 
on the city's services as well. Successive continuing resolutions (CRs) 
do not help much. Not only do successive CRs make it difficult for the 
city to plan its activities for the year, they increase the city's 
costs of doing business. Shutdown threats force the District to invest 
time and money preparing contingency shutdown plans.
  Although federal shutdowns have shut down the District in the past, 
the District did not shut down during the 2013 federal shutdown, only 
because D.C. was able to use previously appropriated contingency funds 
to remain open. However, the District had to severely ration its 
payments, risking its credit standing, and if the federal shutdown had 
continued for much longer, the District would have exhausted those 
funds and shut down, too.
  It is clear that Congress does not intend such risks and consequences 
to the District. Congress loses nothing by allowing the District, which 
submits a balanced budget, almost always with surpluses, each year, to 
remain open.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

                          ____________________