[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 124 (Monday, July 21, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





     INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS HOME RULE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 21, 2025

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the District of Columbia 
Courts Home Rule Act. This bill would give the Council of the District 
of Columbia authority over the jurisdiction and organization of the 
local D.C. courts. The D.C. Home Rule Act (HRA) prohibits the Council 
from enacting any law with respect to title 11 of the D.C. Code, which 
relates to the jurisdiction and organization of the local D.C. courts.
  More than 50 years after passage of the HRA and notwithstanding the 
importance of the local D.C. courts to D.C., the Council, which is the 
legislative body accountable to D.C. residents, is left on the 
sidelines while Congress, which could not care less about the local 
D.C. courts, remains the only legislative body that can amend title 11 
of the D.C. Code.
  Under the HRA, the Council has no authority to ``enact any act, 
resolution, or rule with respect to any provision of title 11 of the 
District of Columbia Code (relating to organization and jurisdiction of 
the District of Columbia courts).'' Title 11 of the D.C. Code primarily 
relates to the rules of criminal and civil procedure, court 
administration, the branches of the courts, jury service and admission 
to the bar.
  D.C. has never had authority over its local courts, even when it was 
responsible for paying for them. Under the National Capital 
Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, the federal 
government assumed from D.C. the costs for several state-level 
functions, including the courts. This bill would not change the federal 
government's responsibility for funding the local D.C. courts or the 
authority of the President to nominate, and the Senate to confirm, 
local D.C. judges.
  This bill is an important step to increase self-government for D.C. I 
urge my colleagues to support it.

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