[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA POLICE HOME RULE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of 
Columbia Police Home Rule Act. This bill is necessary to eliminate the 
President's authority to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department 
(MPD), the local District of Columbia police department. The President 
has no authority to federalize any other local or state police 
department. Under the Home Rule Act, ``whenever the President . . . 
determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which 
require the use of the [MPD] for Federal purposes, he may direct the 
Mayor to provide him, and the Mayor shall provide, such services of the 
[MPD] as the President may deem necessary and appropriate.''
  Under the section of the Home Rule Act that would be repealed by this 
bill, the President may federalize MPD for a period of not more than 30 
days, unless a resolution passed by Congress extending such 
federalization is enacted into law. Congress may also terminate the 
federalization at any time by enacting a resolution. This bill is 
necessary, even with these protections, because, under the principle of 
home rule, the President should not have control over the District's 
local police department.
  While it does not appear that a President has exercised this 
authority over MPD, this latent power is totally unnecessary, should 
not exist and is an affront to MPD, which has always voluntarily 
assisted federal authorities. MPD's first responsibility is to protect 
District residents and visitors, and it must always remain under the 
authority of the D.C. Mayor to accomplish its mission. Moreover, 
federalization is outdated in light of current practice. MPD regularly 
assists the federal government as a matter of comity, not as an arm of 
the federal government, just as I am sure other local police 
departments do in the region. There are approximately 30 federal police 
departments under the President's control in the District. In the case 
of a federal emergency, the President can unilaterally deploy these 
federal officers, as well as the D.C. National Guard, to address it, 
and also request the support of our local police department, as the 
President would do in any other jurisdiction.
  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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