[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E87]
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

                       Thursday, February 2, 2023

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia 
Police Home Rule Act, which would repeal the president's authority to 
federalize the local District of Columbia Police Department, the 
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The president has no authority to 
federalize any other local or state police department. Senator Chris 
Van Hollen is the sponsor of the companion bill in the Senate.
  Under the D.C. 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.'' 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 into law. This bill is necessary, even 
with these limitations on the president's federalization authority, 
because, under the principle of self-government, the president should 
not have control over D.C.'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. Given the events at Lafayette Square on 
June I, 2020, it is imperative that no president be allowed to 
federalize MPD. Although the Trump Administration did not federalize 
MPD at that time, the administration attempted to do so, and D.C. 
officials successfully fought back. MPD's first responsibility is to 
protect D.C. 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federalization is outdated in light of current practice.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 other local police departments do in 
the region and across the country. There are approximately 30 federal 
police departments under the president's control in D.C. In the case of 
a federal emergency, the president can unilaterally deploy these 
federal officers, as well as the D.C. National Guard, and can also 
request the support of MPD, as the Capitol Police did during the attack 
on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The House's Fiscal Year 2022 
and 2023 D.C. Appropriations Bills blocked the president from carrying 
out the federalization provision.
  This is an important step to increase home rule for D.C., and I urge 
my colleagues to support this bill.

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