[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 78 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E446-E447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON INTRODUCTION OF THE 
            WASHINGTON CHANNEL PUBLIC ACCESS ACT MAY 6, 2024

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 6, 2024

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I introduce the Washington Channel Public 
Access Act. This bill would prohibit the Secretary of the Army from 
finalizing, implementing or enforcing any rule that would restrict 
access to the Washington Channel (Channel) in the District of Columbia.
  In 2019, the Secretary of the Army proposed a rule to establish a 
permanent restricted area in the Channel adjacent to Fort McNair, which 
would have restricted access to the navigable portion of the Channel by 
narrowing the waterway where recreational and commercial vessels could 
traverse and prohibited anchoring and mooring altogether. The U.S. Army 
Military District of Washington cited security needs at Fort McNair to 
justify the rule.
  The proposed rule was arbitrary and capricious and would have 
unnecessarily restricted recreational and commercial access to the 
Channel without providing any security benefits.
  Neighborhoods like The Yards and The Wharf have reinvigorated 
community engagement on the waterfront, and the Channel is increasingly 
used for regional transportation and recreation. The stretch of the 
Channel past Fort McNair is the only connection to the Potomac River. 
The rule would have likely forced kayaks, paddleboards and recreational 
boats into the same space as water taxis and river cruise ships, 
creating a potentially dangerous situation.

[[Page E447]]

  I hosted a public meeting in which community members expressed 
overwhelming opposition to the proposed rule, but military officials 
did not address the question of whether less restrictive measures could 
provide the same security. I then wrote asking Secretary of Defense 
Lloyd Austin to direct the U.S. Army Military District of Washington 
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the proposed rule and 
to prohibit these agencies from proposing a similar rule. In 2021, the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed a version of this 
bill. In 2022, the U.S. Army withdrew the proposed rule. Nevertheless, 
this bill is necessary to ensure that the Secretary of the Army does 
not finalize, implement or enforce a rule that would restrict public 
access to the Channel.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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