[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.