[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 95 (Friday, June 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E574-E575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL OF 
                            LEGISLATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 3, 2022

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of 
Columbia Electronic

[[Page E575]]

Transmittal of Legislation Act, which would permit the Chairman of the 
Council of the District of Columbia to transmit legislation to Congress 
in the form of the Chairman's choosing, including in electronic form. 
This bill would modernize the method D.C. legislation is transmitted to 
Congress. I introduced a similar version of this bill earlier this 
year.
  The D.C. Home Rule Act (HRA) requires the Chairman to transmit 
legislation to Congress for a review period before the legislation may 
take effect. The legislation takes effect after a review period, unless 
a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during the review 
period. While the HRA is silent on the method of transmittal, House and 
Senate precedent require that the legislation be physically transmitted 
to Congress. Physical transmittal imposes costs in terms of time on the 
Council, the House and Senate Parliamentarians, the Speaker, the 
President of the Senate, the House clerk, the Senate Secretary, the 
House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  The Council engages in a 12-step process to comply with the physical 
transmittal requirement:
  Step 1: Write individualized cover letters.
  Step 2: The Chairman physically signs the cover letters.
  Step 3: Arrange a time to get the cover letters from the Chairman.
  Step 4: Print two copies of the bill and two copies of the committee 
report to deliver to the Speaker and to the President of the Senate.
  Step 5: Arrange a time for delivery to the Speaker's office.
  Step 6: Arrange a time for delivery to the President of the Senate's 
office.
  Step 7: Arrange for two D.C. employees to drive to the Capitol. (Two 
staffers are required because parking restrictions require a driver and 
a delivery person.)
  Step 8: Drive to the Capitol.
  Step 9: Deliver the documents to the Speaker's office and get a 
signed receipt.
  Step 10: Deliver the documents to the President of the Senate's 
office and get a signed receipt.
  Step 11: Assign the congressional review period based on the 
receipts.
  Step 12: File the receipts.
  The aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol 
highlighted the burdens of physical transmittal. After temporary 
fencing was installed around the Capitol, D.C. employees could not 
enter the Capitol, delaying transmittal until D.C. employees and 
congressional staff developed a workaround. D.C. employees and 
congressional staff met outside the fencing so the D.C. employees could 
physically transmit the legislation.
  Today, when we live in the era of e-mail, there is no reason to 
continue to require an increasingly ancient process, when these 
documents could be transmitted electronically instead, saving a 
tremendous amount of time and effort.
  I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.

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