[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ZONING COMMISSION HOME RULE 
                                  ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 25, 2018

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia 
Zoning Commission Home Rule Act. This bill would give the District of 
Columbia the authority to appoint all members of the D.C. Zoning 
Commission (Commission). Currently, the Commission consists of two 
federal officials (the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and the Director 
of the National Park Service (NPS), or their designees) and three 
mayoral appointees, subject to D.C. Council approval. The federal 
officials are members even though the Commission has no authority over 
federal property.
  Land use is a quintessential local matter in our country. Despite the 
D.C. Home Rule Act, which gave the District jurisdiction over its local 
matters, 40 percent of the members of the Commission are federal 
officials, who are unaccountable to the more than 700,000 residents who 
live in the District. The federal government would lose nothing as a 
result of this bill because the federal government's land-use interests 
in the nation's capital are protected by federal law and federal 
agencies.
  The Commission creates the zoning maps and regulations, which must 
``not be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan for the national 
capital.'' The mayor is responsible for the local elements of the 
comprehensive plan, subject to D.C. Council approval. The National 
Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which is the central federal 
planning agency for the federal government in D.C. and approves federal 
projects here, is responsible for the federal elements of the 
comprehensive plan. This bill would not alter the comprehensive plan 
process or the authority of NCPC and the Commission.
  This bill would immediately remove the AOC and the Director of the 
NPS from the Commission, and the Commission would, at least initially, 
consist solely of the three mayoral appointees. The District would have 
the authority

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to reconstitute the membership of the Commission through local 
legislation.
  This is an important step to increase home rule for the District, and 
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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