    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [September 28, 1999]
    [Pages 1622-1623]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Returning Without Approval to the House of Representatives
    Appropriations Legislation for the District of Columbia
    September 28, 1999

        H.R. 2587, the ``District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2000,''
    approves local funding and provides for targeted Federal funding for the
    District of Columbia that we all support. The bill includes essential
    funding for District Courts and Corrections and the DC Offender
    Supervision Agency and makes some progress towards providing requested
    funds for a new tuition assistance program for District of Columbia
    residents.
        However, I have decided to veto this bill because Congress has added
    a number of unacceptable riders that prevent local residents from making
    their own decisions about local matters. Congress has interfered in
    local decisions in this bill in a way that it would not have done to any
    other local jurisdiction in the country. For

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    example, this bill bars the District from spending its own funds to seek
    voting rights for the citizens of the District of Columbia. Congress
    should not impose such conditions on the District of Columbia. And it is
    wrong for some in Congress to threaten to cut funding that would fight
    crime, expand educational opportunity by providing tuition assistance,
    and improve children's health simply because they are unwilling to let
    the people of the District of Columbia make local decisions about local
    matters, as they should under home rule.