[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 145 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E885]
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

                        Tuesday, August 10, 2021

  Ms. NORTON. Madam 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 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 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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