[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 4460-4461]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD HOME RULE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2011

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill that would give 
the mayor of the District of Columbia authority over deploying the D.C. 
National Guard, after consultation with the Commanding General of the 
D.C. National Guard, with the President retaining final authority. In 
local emergencies, including natural disasters and civil disturbances 
unrelated to national or homeland security, the mayor of the District 
of Columbia should have the same authority that governors exercise over 
the National Guard in their states. Each governor, as head of state, 
has the authority to mobilize the National Guard to protect his or her 
state, just as local militia did historically. The National

[[Page 4461]]

 Guards in the 50 states operate under dual federal and local 
jurisdiction. Yet only the President and the Commanding General of the 
D.C. National Guard currently have the authority to deploy the D.C. 
National Guard for local and national purposes, respectively. Today, 
the most likely need for the D.C. National Guard here would be for 
natural disasters and to restore order in the wake of civil 
disturbances. The mayor, who knows the city better than any federal 
official and who works closely with federal security officials, should 
be able to call on the D.C. National Guard for local natural disasters 
and civil disturbances, after consultation with the Commanding General 
of the D.C. National Guard. The President should be focused on national 
matters, including homeland security, not local D.C. matters. Homeland 
security authority, with respect to the D.C. National Guard, would 
remain the sole province of the President, along with the power to 
nationalize the D.C. National Guard at will. It does no harm to give 
the mayor this authority for civil disturbances and natural disasters. 
However, it could do significant harm to leave the mayor powerless to 
act quickly. If it makes sense that governors would have control over 
the mobilization and deployment of their National Guard, it makes equal 
sense for the mayor of the District of Columbia, with a population the 
size of a small state, to have the same authority.
  The mayor of the District of Columbia, as head of state, should have 
the authority to deploy the D.C. National Guard in instances that do 
not rise to the level of homeland defense activities. My bill requires 
that the mayor only deploy the D.C. National Guard after consultation 
with the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard. The bill is 
another important step toward completing the transfer of full self-
government powers to the District of Columbia. Congress itself began 
with the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973, when it delegated most 
of its authority to the District of Columbia. The bill follows that 
model.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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