| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
Prayer for Integrity
00:03:01
|
||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| The reason I ask that is because I don't know that that was necessarily the case with Butler, Pennsylvania. | ||
| So thank you so much for your persistence kind of in this matter. | ||
| There's still a lot of public questions that need to be asked. | ||
| Let me shift to another topic very quickly. | ||
| On July 31st, 2025, the DOJ and the CIA declassified the annex to Special Counsel John Durham's 2023 report on Operation Crossfire Hurricane. | ||
| The 29-page Durham annex contains previously classified information about, among other things, the investigative referral of the Clinton campaign plan. | ||
| Why would somebody place documents in a programme? | ||
|
unidentified
|
You can watch the rest of this on our free C-SPAN Now video app as we take you live to the U.S. Capitol as the House gavels in. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
| The prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibben. | ||
| Would you pray with me? | ||
| Father of lights, from whom comes every perfect gift and in whom there is no shadow, open our hearts this day to receive your wisdom. | ||
| As we commemorate the founding of our nation's Constitution, illumine our understanding of your divine will and rekindle within us gratitude for the guidance you offered our nation's founders in the establishment of American democracy more than two centuries ago. | ||
| For even in the early and precarious years of our country's beginnings, when social anxiety and political turmoil threatened the future of this fledgling nation, Lord, in your mercy, you built the House that is our United States so that the framers of our Constitution would not have fought for or built this government in vain. | ||
| As you granted our founders a vision of a more perfect union, grant to our leaders and all American citizens today the will to preserve national unity, to defend freedom, and to uphold the common good. | ||
| As you revealed the principles of liberty and justice to the first lawmakers, reveal to us anew how when we ground our faith and live our lives in you, the enjoyment of those rights naturally follows. | ||
| Eternal God, we thank you for our noble past. | ||
| We pray for integrity in the pursuit of peace in our present. | ||
| And we look with hope toward a future worthy of your blessing. | ||
| In your sovereign name we pray. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Amen. | |
| The chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceeding and announces to the House the approval thereof. | ||
|
Reservation Rights
00:05:36
|
||
| Pursuant to clause one of Rule 1, the journal stands approved. | ||
| The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Subramanium. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I pledge a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. | |
| The chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Missouri seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I have his consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and extend my report. | |
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Missouri provides objection. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Grand. | |
| Does the speaker know security in an adequate fashion? | ||
| The gentleman is not asking a proper parliamentary inquiry. | ||
| Understood, Mr. Speaker, does continuing my reserving the right to object, does the Speaker know what the plan is to keep members secure due to all the security threats and the assassination attempts and assassinations we've seen around the country? | ||
| The gentleman is still not containing a proper parliamentary. | ||
| This is still not a proper parliamentary inquiry and is not a question that can be answered by the chair. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection. | ||
| The reservation is withdrawn. | ||
| The gentleman from Missouri is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The state legislature may have forced through their partisan map, but in Missouri, the final word belongs to the people. | |
| Our Constitution gives Missourians the right to check the politicians through the petition process. | ||
| No one asked for this map. | ||
| Communities didn't demand it. | ||
| Voters didn't vote for it. | ||
| It was written to serve the administration, not Missouri. | ||
| But when politicians get it wrong, citizens have the chance to make it right. | ||
| That's why the petition process is so important. | ||
| It's a chance for Missourians across the state, urban, rural, north, south, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, to come together and say our voices matter, our votes matter, and we will decide what representation looks like. | ||
| This is bigger than party politics. | ||
| It's about who holds the power in our democracy. | ||
| And I believe the power is in the people of Missouri, more specifically in the pen and signatures in the people of Missouri as we petition to save our democracy. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from New York seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to address the House for one minute, then to advise and extend my warrant. | |
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to object. | ||
| Object. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized on his reservation. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized on his reservation. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I'm reserving the right to object because members of the House, we are open to all sorts of threats, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And I'm just curious, do you know when the Speaker of the House will be putting forward a plan to keep members safe? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The Chair hasn't already responded. | |
| The Chair has already responded that this is not a proper parliamentary inquiry, and the Chair cannot advise further. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection. | ||
| The reservation is withdrawn. | ||
| The gentleman from New York is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Democrat. | |
| Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate the 238th birthday of the U.S. Constitution, and we reflect on the document that enshrines the freedoms that we hold dear. | ||
| At the heart of those freedoms is the First Amendment, the right to free speech. | ||
| It protects popular speech and speech that challenges, provokes, and offends. | ||
| That's the point. | ||
| This week, the Attorney General said the Department of Justice would, quote, absolutely target you, go after you, end quote, for so-called hate speech, a dangerous misreading of the Constitution. | ||
| Though she has since walked it back, the message was clear. | ||
| This administration would rather silence dissent than defend liberty. | ||
| I hear defense of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, but I want to make sure that we defend all amendments, including the Fifth Amendment for due process, the 10th Amendment, rights that are reserved for the states and the people from the federal government. | ||
| Our rights don't come with an asterisk. | ||
| We don't surrender the First Amendment or any others to political convenience. | ||
| On this Constitution Day, let us remember the greatest threat to democracy is not exercising our rights, it is the effort to suppress those rights. | ||
|
Food Is Medicine
00:04:53
|
||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Massachusetts seek recognition? | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Food is medicine, Mr. Speaker, and medically tailored meals provide people living with chronic illness essential nutrition to improve their health and keep them out of the hospital. | ||
| Incredible providers like Community Servings in my home state of Massachusetts, God's Love We Deliver in New York City, and dozens of agencies across the country have proven these meals work. | ||
| Among individuals with complex health conditions, MTMs have led to a 70% drop in emergency room visits and cut hospital admissions in half. | ||
| If all eligible patients received MTMs, studies show that we could save over $32 billion in the first year alone. | ||
| Today, I am reintroducing bipartisan bicameral legislation with Reps Maliotakis, Pingree, Fitzpatrick, and Evans, and Senators Booker, Marshall, Smith, and Cassidy to pilot the coverage of MTMs in traditional Medicare. | ||
| Our bill, which expands access to these life-saving meals, will lead to billions of dollars in savings without adding one dime to the deficit. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to join the growing bipartisan food is medicine movement and pass our medically tailored meals bill. | ||
| Let's work together to end hunger now. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Virginia seek recognition? | ||
| I rise to address the House for up to one minute and extend and revise my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Dr. G.V. V. Rao, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and a true community leader. | ||
| Dr. Rao dedicated his life to service, both here in Virginia and around the world. | ||
| And his career and work on global development took him to the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Asian Development Bank. | ||
| And in the community, Dr. Rao founded the Balavicas of Fairfax, an organization to promote spiritual values and education for kids in Northern Virginia. | ||
| His ProSEED project helped mentor low-income students in India as they pursued higher education. | ||
| And Dr. Rao's legacy lives on in all the lives that he touched and the communities that he strengthened. | ||
| May he rest in peace. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentlelady from Maryland seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give voice to an issue that has gone unaddressed for far too long, and it's one this body must take up before it's too late and lives are lost. | ||
| We must address the alarmingly low staffing levels of firefighters on our military installations. | ||
| And recent reports indicate that the military service intends to eliminate vacant firefighter positions, restrict the use of overtime, and interpret requirements in a manner that could lead to station closures. | ||
| And let me be clear, while staffing levels shortages have been ongoing and ongoing challenges, these new actions, coupled with the continued hiring freeze, put our service members in harm's way. | ||
| It's why Congresswoman Kiggins and I wrote to the Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force to ensure robust emergency services that maintain safety and mission readiness across the force. | ||
| Across the DOD, more than 8,800 civilian firefighters respond to structural fires, aircraft emergencies, hazardous materials incidents, and other life-threatening events each year. | ||
| I cannot think of a more critical, all-American cause, more of a win-win, than having the backs of our firefighters and our service members. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Virginia seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of addressing the House for up to one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. | |
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, across America, hardworking people are struggling to pay their bills. | |
| Housing, groceries, health care, and more. | ||
| Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been cut due to the Doge policies. | ||
| Our economy is sputtering, and the tariffs are jacking up prices. | ||
| The so-called Big Beautiful bill will decimate Medicaid, taking health care from seniors, children, and working families while driving up premiums. | ||
| Now, the President has told the majority not to negotiate with our side to keep the government open. | ||
| And the budget that's been introduced will drive up everyday costs, including health care premiums. | ||
|
H.R. 5125: Judicial Nominations Reform
00:11:06
|
||
|
unidentified
|
It's time for us to come together, Mr. Speaker, and deliver what the American people need, access to affordable health care and a government that's funded and functional. | |
| I yield back. | ||
| The chair lays before the House of Communications. | ||
| The Honorable Speaker, House of Representatives, sir, pursuant to Section 2B4 of Public Law 118-144, the Commission to study the potential transfer of the Weissman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution Act. | ||
| I am pleased to appoint the following individual to the Commission to study the potential transfer of the Weissman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution, Mr. Philip Dorobov of Short Hills, New Jersey. | ||
| Signed, Sincerely, Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Leader. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Kentucky seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 707, I call up the bill H.R. 5125, the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act of 2025. | ||
| The clerk will report the title of the bill. | ||
| H.R. 5125, a bill to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to terminate the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission and for other purposes. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 707, the amendment and the nature of the substitute consisting of the text of rules, committee print 119.13 is adopted and the bill as amended is considered red. | ||
| The bill as amended shall be debated for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight in government reform or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Comer, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Garcia, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I support H.R. 5125, the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act. | ||
| This legislation aligns with the appointment of D.C. judges with the constitutional process for appointing members of the federal judiciary. | ||
| This bill preserves the president's authority to nominate, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, anyone deemed appropriate to sit on the D.C. court. | ||
| The current system, where the president is restricted to nominating only those candidates put forward by the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission, inappropriately limits the president's authority. | ||
| I want to thank Representative Pete Sessions from Texas for his leadership on this legislation. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support this effort. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I reserve it. | |
| Reserves, the gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Now, I strongly oppose this bill, which would eliminate the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission and give a president, any president, the sole power to make nominations for D.C. local courts, which deal with municipal issues. | ||
| Right now, under the Home Rule Act, the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission submits a list of three candidates for each judicial vacancy. | ||
| Of course, then it's considered by the President. | ||
| This bill would wipe away the Commission, and it would allow the President to directly appoint and have full control over the selection of these judges. | ||
| This is an absurd level of federal control over what is local judges. | ||
| Every state and territory in the United States selects its own judges. | ||
| Only in D.C. do Republicans think that President Trump should decide who your local judges are. | ||
| And let's also be honest about what the bill is really about. | ||
| This has nothing to do with public safety. | ||
| It's a power grab to take away power and authority from over 700,000 residents of this district. | ||
| Now, let's be clear. | ||
| D.C. does face a judicial vacancy crisis. | ||
| There are currently 15 open seats across the D.C. Superior and Court of Appeals, 13 on the Superior Court side, two on the Court of Appeals. | ||
| But why do the vacancies actually exist? | ||
| The Commission has submitted names for every single one of those open seats. | ||
| So the bottleneck is not the Commission. | ||
| It's the slow pace of nominations by the President and confirmations by this Senate. | ||
| The Senate could solve this tomorrow, and we know who controls the Senate, the Republicans. | ||
| So let's be honest about what this bill is really about. | ||
| It's not about the Constitution. | ||
| It's about partisanship. | ||
| The House majority wants to give Donald Trump the ability to select judges for local municipal matters for the Washington, D.C. and bypass the current commission process that exists. | ||
| This is another attempt for Republicans to try to gut D.C.'s nonpartisan judiciary and replace it with partisan right-wing judges. | ||
| The legislation does nothing to improve the judicial system. | ||
| It strips away one of the few tools D.C. residents have to shape their courts, and it erodes judicial independence. | ||
| The bill is unnecessary. | ||
| It is undemocratic, and it really goes to the independence of our courts. | ||
| I urge all of our colleagues to oppose it. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time. | ||
| The gentleman reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield five minutes to the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sessions. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the young chairman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Chairman Comer. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, what we've heard today is a continuation of this lame excuse of politics and on Donald Trump. | ||
| The gentleman from California did allude to it, but really did not get into much more of the data. | ||
| The bottom line is from 930-20, 225-23, 630-23, 728-23, 322-24, 412-24, 10-124. | ||
| Each of these people were nominated by the distinguished gentleman, the former President of the United States, Mr. Biden. | ||
| This is not political. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is getting the work done that Washington, D.C. needs. | |
| And this commission process that we go through does not work. | ||
| I know we wanted to hear that this is all related to Donald Trump and Republicans want to control the process that goes on so that we can control Washington, D.C. Mr. Speaker, it's not working is the reason why I'm on the floor today. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, this bill, H.R. 5125, is about a process that can work. | ||
| And the gentleman from California is correct. | ||
| A lot of it is political. | ||
| But what it's to do is to say that if the people of this country have chosen the President of the United States, then that is the direction we will go. | ||
| We will give that president, whether it be Republican or Democrat, whether it be a man or a woman, we will give that president the opportunity for the control of this nomination and the system here in Washington, D.C. We've got a lot at risk. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we've got a lot at risk, which is the same reason why President Trump finally had the guts, yes, I will call them guts, to call in the National Guard to take on the crime presence that exists in Washington, D.C. We've had members of Congress had their cars stolen. | ||
| We've had members of Congress who were assaulted. | ||
| We've had staff members of this body who were killed. | ||
| And people who come to this town from across the United States want, need, and expect that Washington, D.C. does not become or continue to be a work-free drug zone. | ||
| Washington, D.C. should be safe for members of not just of the United States, but for international visitors who visit also. | ||
| And the basis of that, which Chairman Comer is bringing to the floor today, is to look at from top to bottom, not just the judicial system, but really the entire process of the courts system. | ||
| So I have some background in this. | ||
| My father served as a chief judge of the Western District of Texas in San Antonio. | ||
| He served as FBI director for President Reagan, President Bush, and President Clinton. | ||
| He understood firsthand that control of crime has a lot to do with how you deal with criminals. | ||
| This opportunity that we bring today to the floor is to go back to a process that works, is a process that is driven by the President of the United States, who also has authority and responsibility over this beautiful city. | ||
| And so, Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would reserve my time. | ||
| The gentleman reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I just want to remind my good friend that in Texas, local judges are elected by Texas citizens, not chosen directly by the President. | ||
| In this case, in this bill, they want to bypass any sort of local control over the selection of judges and have these appointees being chosen directly by Donald Trump. | ||
| That's wrong, and folks should oppose this bill. | ||
| I want to yield seven minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia, Representative Norton. | ||
|
Bypassing the Commission
00:15:40
|
||
| The gentlewoman is recognized. | ||
| Thank the gentleman for yielding. | ||
| I strongly oppose this bill, which eliminates the District of Columbia's already small role in the selection of local judges. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record letters opposing this bill from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the entire D.C. Council, D.C. Attorney General Brian Swell, and the D.C. Bar. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I also ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter on this bill from the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission. | ||
| Objection. | ||
| Under the DC Home Rule Act, the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, a chamber in which D.C. has no representation, appoints judges to the local D.C. courts. | ||
| The President must make a nomination from a list of candidates recommended by the Judicial Nomination Commission. | ||
| The establishment of the Judicial Nomination Commission provided D.C. with three, albeit limited roles in the nomination of its local judges. | ||
| First, members of the Commission must be D.C. residents. | ||
| Second, D.C. appoints three of the seven members of the Commission. | ||
| Third, the Commission holds a public comment period on applicants for a vacancy on the local D.C. courts, allowing D.C. residents to express their views on applicants. | ||
| Republicans claim the Judicial Nomination Commission is unconstitutional because it limits the President's authority to make nominations. | ||
| This, they are wrong. | ||
| The Commission has been in existence for 50 years. | ||
| Congress, not the President, has plenary authority over D.C. Congress also has plenary authority over the territories, and Congress has given them authority to select their local judges without any role whatsoever for the president or Congress. | ||
| I refer my Republican colleagues to the Supreme Court's decisions in 2020 regarding the appointments of the Puerto Rico Financial Control Board, which Congress established pursuant to its plenary authority over Puerto Rico. | ||
| The court held the appointments clause of the Constitution does not restrict the appointment of local officers that Congress vests with primarily local duties pursuant to the territorial or district clauses of the Constitution. | ||
| Local D.C. judges are local officers that Congress vests with primarily local duties pursuant to the district clause. | ||
| The long-standing judicial vacancy crisis on the local D.C. courts is not due to any failure of the Judicial Nomination Commission. | ||
| The Commission always meets its 60-day statutory decline deadline to submit a list of names for a vacancy to the President. | ||
| The crisis exists because the president and to a larger extent the Senate, regardless of the party in power, do not prioritize local D.C. judges. | ||
| For example, there has been a vacancy on D.C.'s highest court since 2013. | ||
| Congress should give authority to the over 700,000 D.C. residents to select their local judges in any manner they choose. | ||
| D.C. residents, the majority of whom are black and brown, are capable of governing themselves. | ||
| Since Republicans do not trust D.C. residents with self-government, they should at least address the long-standing vacancy crisis in local D.C. courts, which is harming public safety and access to judges. | ||
| A simple resolution, a solution is to make an appointment to the local D.C. courts effective 30 days after the President makes a nomination, unless Congress enacts a disapproval resolution during that period. | ||
| That is essentially the same process used for congressional review of legislation enacted by D.C. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote no on the Judicial Nominations Reform Act and to grant D.C. statehood instead. | ||
| Free D.C. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentlelady yields. | ||
| The gentleman from California Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield three more minutes to the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sessions. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I appreciate the gentlewoman, Ms. Norton, coming forth as she does represent the District of Columbia. | ||
| But I think in the argument, it's important to note that these are not just local judges that we are talking about. | ||
| They don't handle any matter that is related to a ticket, a parking ticket, the local matters. | ||
| In fact, they deal with serious matters, and that's why it comes to the attention of the United States Senate and the President of the United States. | ||
| This bill does not remove any sitting judges on either the D.C. Superior Court or the D.C. Court of Appeals. | ||
| But in fact, we believe it is important, as the gentlewoman noted, since 2013, we still have people that have been hanging out and not approved. | ||
| Now, Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to go through this because I really did not do the due diligence to know why there are people here who have not been approved. | ||
| They are still pending. | ||
| What I would tell you is that we've had lots of time since 2013 where Republicans and Democrats who were in charge of the United States Senate could have moved these nominations forward and they chose not to. | ||
| I am simply standing and saying that I believe today this bill needs to be passed because Washington, D.C. and the sitting Courts do need additional judges. | ||
| They need competent people who would be prepared to move forward. | ||
| And if there's one president who would nominate and get this done, it would be Donald Trump. | ||
| Donald Trump deeply believes in the success of Washington, D.C. | ||
| He believes Washington, D.C. should be a place that is safe and that has good judges. | ||
| And so this will be an opportunity for us not only to understand a different way to handle this, but a way that we can look back and say we have made Washington, D.C. just a little bit better because the Republican Party cares deeply about Washington, its success, and mostly the safety of the people who live here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And I want to thank the young chairman for allowing me time to bring this bill together, and I would yield back my time to the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky. | |
| Gentleman yields, the gentleman from Kentucky Reserves, the gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. | ||
| I'm prepared to close. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm prepared to close. | |
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I just want to clarify for the gentleman from Texas that these are not federal circuit judges. | ||
| They have the same jurisdiction as state and local judges. | ||
| That is what actually the bill presented says. | ||
| These are local judges. | ||
| They're not circuit judges. | ||
| They're not federal judges. | ||
| Let's be clear what this is about. | ||
| This is about allowing Donald Trump to select local judges for D.C. and bypass a commission system that is currently in place where the president still has an ability to select from a panel of different judges. | ||
| There is no state in the United States in our country that allows the president to directly select local judges. | ||
| This is an outrageous attempt to take away power from 700,000 residents and to hurt our independent judiciary system here in the district. | ||
| This bill is not about safety. | ||
| It is not about the Constitution. | ||
| It has nothing to do with federal circuit court judges. | ||
| It's a power grab for Donald Trump to self-select judges. | ||
| And finally, as I close, I want to remind all of our friends that all these D.C. bills in front of us are about Donald Trump trying to play mayor of Washington, D.C. | ||
| And if he wants to be mayor, he should resign from president and run for mayor himself. | ||
| With that, I'm done. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| The gentleman yields, I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields, the gentleman from Kentucky is recognized to close. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Another day on the House floor where the Republicans try to address the D.C. crime crisis with serious substantive solutions, and another day where the Democrats try to act like there's no crime problem in Washington, D.C. and reverberate the symptoms of their Trump derangement syndrome. | ||
| But, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the sessions legislation, which corrects an inappropriate limitation on presidential authority to appoint judges in the District of Columbia. | ||
| I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
| The gentleman yields back pursuant to House Resolution 707. | ||
| The previous question is ordered on the bill as amended. | ||
| The question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. | ||
| Those in favor, signify by saying aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| Third reading. | ||
| To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to terminate the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission and for other purposes. | ||
| The question is now on the passage of the bill. | ||
| Those in favor, please say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| The ayes have it, and the bill is passed. | ||
| The yays and nays, please. | ||
| The yays and nays are requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote by the yays and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yays and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of Rule 20. | ||
| further proceedings on this question will be postponed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
For what purpose does the gentleman from Kentucky seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 707, I call up the bill H.R. 5143, the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The clerk will report the title of the bill. | |
| H.R. 5143, a bill to establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects and for other purposes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Pursuant to House Resolution 707, the amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 119-11 is adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read. | |
| The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Comer, and the gentleman from California, Mr. Garcia, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask the UNS consent that all members have five legislative days to revise, extend their remarks, and include extraneous material in the measure under consideration. | ||
| Without objection, Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I am pleased to support H.R. 5143, the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025. | ||
| This bill repeals subtitle S of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 and replaces it with policies empowering police to pursue a suspect fleeing in a vehicle. | ||
| The 2022 Act imposes burdensome restrictions on police pursuit of criminal suspects. | ||
| This has resulted in less justice for victims of crime in Washington, D.C., and more opportunities for criminals who would otherwise be apprehended to continue harming D.C. and surrounding communities. | ||
| This bill replaces subtitle S with policies that allow for vehicular pursuit of a suspect fleeing a motor vehicle if the officer or supervisor deems it necessary, the most effective means of apprehension and without unreasonable risk to bystanders. | ||
| I want to thank Representative Clay Higgins for his leadership on this critical local policing reform legislation and urge my colleagues to support his bill. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
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unidentified
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Gentleman in reserves. | |
| Gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield myself such time as may consume. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Now, Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose this bill, which would overrule rules implemented by D.C.'s elected leaders on when Metropolitan Police Officers should pursue a fleeing car. | ||
| Now, our debate here is a perfect example of why D.C. needs self-rule. | ||
| And we should be clear: high-speed chases are deadly. | ||
| They often end in needless deaths, injuries, and devastating property damage. | ||
| Now, over 3,000 people died in police car chases in the U.S. between 2017 and 2022. | ||
| Half of those deaths were innocent bystanders not involved in the chase. | ||
| I'll repeat: half of the people that have died in police car chases were innocent bystanders. | ||
| Now, that should alarm every single one of us. | ||
| Now, across the country, Republican-led states have recognized the dangers of high-speed chases. | ||
| States like Texas, Florida, Tennessee have all implemented tighter standards to limit pursuits of violent criminals or imminent threats. | ||
| They know the risks are too high for people that, of course, are innocent or could get caught up in one of these car crashes. | ||
| That's the best practice, and D.C. is following the same path. | ||
| But my Republican colleagues want to interfere. | ||
| They want to lower the standards to allow for more chases and more innocent people getting hurt. | ||
|
Allowing D.C. Residents to Decide
00:03:11
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| And I want to remind us that this district is dense. | ||
| Sidewalks oftentimes are small. | ||
| Streets are tight. | ||
| There's a lot of folks that live here. | ||
| We should not have a one-size-fits-all policy for D.C. | ||
| We should allow the people of D.C. to decide when a car chase is appropriate. | ||
| Congress should not require D.C. police to use tactics if the community does not want. | ||
| D.C. residents should be empowered to decide when to authorize their police to use dangerous tactics. | ||
| Under D.C. current law, pursuits are allowed if a fleeing suspect has committed a violent crime, for example, or poses an imminent threat to public safety, and if the pursuit can be done in a way that minimizes the risks to innocent people. | ||
| We should not lower these standards, and certainly not with zero community input and no consultation with the D.C. council mayor or other folks that are actually trying to manage the city. | ||
| There are many tools we know that police officers can use to track suspects and make arrests. | ||
| We should let the council, the mayor, and the police work together with the D.C. police to balance safety, pedestrian safety, and proportionality. | ||
| And if D.C. residents don't like it, they can vote their elected officials out of office. | ||
| Today, Congress is again injecting itself as some sort of super city council to write laws for Washington, D.C. As a former mayor of eight years who worked with over 700 amazing men and women of a police department who were heroic in the work that they did, I know in conversations with our chief, with our police officers, with our community, | ||
| that these decisions are best left to our communities to write the laws of when these police chases should actually go into effect. | ||
| I want to remind us again, and while I appreciate the author and my friend, this bill I believe is a necessary, it undermines home rule, and it will make D.C. less safe. | ||
| And with that, I urge my colleagues to oppose it, and I reserve my time. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman in reserves. | |
| Gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield five minutes to the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman yields. | |
| Gentleman from Louisiana is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Chairman of the Oversight Committee for recognizing me, allowing me to speak in support of H.R. 5143, the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act. | ||
| As a matter of background, Mr. Speaker, in January of 2023, the D.C. Council enacted the comprehensive policing and justice reform amendment, the CPJRA Act of 2022. | ||
| That was D.C. Law 24-345, and amongst numerous other police-related policy matters, most of which we advised against in the oversight committee. | ||
|
Factors Governing Police Pursuits
00:10:34
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| We met with DC officials, including hearings, and we advised against what they intended to do. | ||
| Included in those police-related policy matters in the act that they indeed passed in 2022 was subtitle S of the CPJRA, which imposed a host of restrictions on police pursuit of criminal suspects. | ||
| In doing so, the DC counsel essentially made it illegal for police to pursue and apprehend criminals if they were fleeing in a vehicle by imposing a complex matrix of 14 factors that police officers have to consider before whether or not they would pursue a fleeing vehicle. | ||
| The police officers, you know, I speak from my own experience, I'm very likely the only one involved in this debate for several years that has actually engaged in, I tried to add it up the other day, but probably a couple of hundred serious high-speed pursuits in the course of my career. | ||
| I worked night shift for a long time, nine years straight, 12-hour shifts. | ||
| Night shift is when this stuff usually happens. | ||
| And I'm not talking about when someone doesn't stop right away. | ||
| That's not a high-speed pursuit. | ||
| Having to drive 100 miles an hour to catch up with somebody that you're pulling over is not a high-speed pursuit. | ||
| A high-speed pursuit is when they're running. | ||
| And this is something that the officer has to make very fast decisions, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And yes, we consider the totality of circumstance of where we are. | ||
| Is that a suspect vehicle? | ||
| Does it match a definition of something that's been put out through dispatch, a vehicle that we're looking for? | ||
| Has it potentially been involved in a crime that requires police interaction in the effort to enforce and to address that crime that took place? | ||
| There's a number of factors that a police officer has to figure. | ||
| But it's got to be an option that you're going to pursue that car. | ||
| And what D.C. has done, one of the factors, Mr. Speaker, is if anyone in the suspect motor vehicle was afforded an opportunity to comply with an order to surrender any suspected dangerous weapons, what the hell? | ||
| There's no way a police officer can know that. | ||
| There's too many factors, which basically means D.C. has made it illegal for police to pursue a vehicle. | ||
| And that's what we're correcting here. | ||
| We're restoring the discretion of the professional law enforcement officer To make a decision in a fraction of a second or two, based upon his policies and his training and the totality of circumstance on whether or not he needs to pursue that vehicle. | ||
| And this is what my bill restores. | ||
| The legislation repeals subtitle S of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 and replaces it with policies empowering police to vehicular pursuit of a suspect fleeing in a motor vehicle. | ||
| If the officer or supervisor deems it necessary, that it's the most effective means of apprehension and if it is without unreasonable risk to bystanders. | ||
| Let me say, in all my vehicle pursuits, there had been a few crashes, but nobody has died. | ||
| And the only crash that I've ever been involved in in those pursuits was when I purposefully crashed the fleeing vehicle, which was the guy who had committed an armed robbery at a local hardware store, had pistol whipped the manager of that store, made it to his car, fired at officers, and began. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time and the indulgence to the chairman and the speaker. | ||
| I just urge strong support of H.R. 5143. | ||
| It restores legitimate discretion to the police officers that actually work the streets of D.C. | ||
| And I yield the balance of my time. | ||
| I thank you all. | ||
|
unidentified
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That's it. | |
| Gentleman Yields. | ||
| Gentleman Yields. | ||
| Gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Obviously, I just want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana also for his service in law enforcement. | ||
| I know that he is trying to help in trying to move public safety forward. | ||
| I know that's his intention, but I just want to clarify a few things. | ||
| It's been mentioned that this committee somehow, or that this bill somehow has been heard by a committee. | ||
| We have not held a hearing on these bills to clarify our hearing on D.C. is actually tomorrow. | ||
| There's been no coordination with the mayor or the city council. | ||
| They oppose this bill. | ||
| And I do want to clarify, it's been mentioned a few times when we've debated this bill that there's somehow 14 criteria that officers have to consider before engaging in a pursuit. | ||
| The law is very clear. | ||
| The suspect must have committed or attempted a crime of violence or pose an imminent threat of death or seriously harm, bodily harm. | ||
| The pursuit is necessary to protect another person from serious bodily injury or not likely to cause injury to others, and all other options have been exhausted or do not reasonably lend themselves to the circumstances, is actually what the actual law says. | ||
| So I just want to just want to note that. | ||
| I'm not sure what those 14 criteria are. | ||
| And I do, I want to yield, of course, seven minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia, Representative Norton. | ||
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unidentified
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Gentlewoman is recognized. | |
| I thank the gentleman for yielding. | ||
| I strongly oppose this undemocratic and paternalistic bill, which amends D.C. law. | ||
| The over 700,000 D.C. residents, the majority of whom are black and brown, are capable and worthy of governing themselves. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record letters opposing this bill from D.C. Mayor Emurio Bowser, the entire D.C. Council, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab. | ||
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unidentified
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Without objection. | |
| D.C.'s local legislature, the council has 13 members. | ||
| If D.C. residents do not like how members vote, residents can vote them out of office or pass a ballot measure. | ||
| That is called democracy. | ||
| Congress has 535 of, Congress has 535 voting members. | ||
| None are elected by D.C. residents. | ||
| If D.C. residents do not like how members vote on local D.C. matters, residents cannot vote them out of office or pass a ballot measure. | ||
| This is the antithesis of democracy. | ||
| The substance of this bill is irrelevant since there is never justification for Congress to legislate on local DC matters. | ||
| Nevertheless, I will discuss it. | ||
| Vehicular pursuits by police officers are inherently dangerous, not just for officers and suspects, but for bystanders, too. | ||
| And often there are other options to detain a suspect. | ||
| D.C. permits vehicular pursuits, but it imposes limitations on them. | ||
| According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, vehicular pursuit policies must balance the risks, take all of the factors into consideration, and reach a decision that is best suited to their jurisdictions. | ||
| Unlike D.C., 2% of local police departments prohibit vehicular pursuits altogether. | ||
| The sponsor of this bill, who is from Louisiana, thinks he knows better than D.C. how to strike the proper balance in D.C. | ||
| I will read for my Republican colleagues part of the signing statement your fellow Republican President Richard Nixon issued on the D.C. Home Rule Act. | ||
| One of the major goals of this administration is to place responsibility for local functions under local control and to provide local governments with the authority and resources they need to serve their communities effectively. | ||
| The measure I signed today represents a significant step in achieving this goal in the city of Washington. | ||
| I will give the people of the District of Columbia the right to elect their own local officials and to govern themselves in local affairs. | ||
| As the nation approaches the 200th anniversary of its founding, it is particularly appropriate to assure those persons who live in our capital city rights and privileges which have long been enjoyed by most of their countrymen. | ||
| D.C. residents have all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes, serving on juries, and registering with the Selective Service. | ||
|
D.C. Statehood Debate
00:05:11
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| Yet Congress denies them full local government and voting representation in Congress. | ||
| The only solution to this undemocratic treatment is to grant D.C. statehood. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter explaining why D.C. statehood is constitutional from leading constitutional scholars, including Larry Tribe. | ||
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unidentified
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Without objection. | |
| D.C. statehood, the D.C. statehood bill, H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, grants D.C. residents full local self-government and voting representation in Congress. | ||
| H.R. 51 reduces the size of the federal district from 68 square miles to two square miles, consisting of the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the National Mall, and remaining under the control of Congress. | ||
| The new state consists of the residential and commercial areas of D.C. | ||
| The new state has a larger population than two states, pays more federal taxes per capita than any state, and pays more local federal taxes than 21 states. | ||
| I urge members to vote no on the D.C. Policing Protection Act. | ||
| Keep their hands off D.C. and free D.C., and I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman Yields. | |
| Gentlewoman yields. | ||
| California Reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from California Reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Gentleman from Kentucky. | ||
| Gentleman from Kentucky. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I asked you's consent to enter a letter from Representative Minn into the record, which clarifies that he meant to vote yes on H.R. 5143 in committee. | ||
|
unidentified
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The gentleman's request will be covered by General Leave. | |
| Gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Gentleman Reserves. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman Reserves. | |
| Gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I want to yield two minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, Representative McGyver. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentlewoman is recognized. | |
| Thank you to the ranking member. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today with deep concern for our nation's capital, also known as Chocolate City. | ||
| The four Republican bills on the floor this week are a direct attack on the people of this city, particularly the black and brown communities who have called D.C. home for generations. | ||
| Residents who have built thriving small businesses, who have received an education from D.C. school system, and residents who have raised families and called themselves proud Washingtonians since birth. | ||
| This bill, H.R. 5143, would impose the president's twisted vision of justice on D.C., overriding the autonomy of this city and hurting the people who live here, enabling deadly vehicle pursuits of suspects in the city. | ||
| As a former councilwoman and a council president of the largest city in New Jersey, I know firsthand that this is dangerous. | ||
| And that's on top of the other bills that we're debating this week that seek to strip D.C. of its autonomy, force more juveniles into the justice system, expand the president's gross overreach, and make things worse. | ||
| The bills proposed by my Republican colleagues would worsen the already rampant injustices we see in the criminal justice system, make law enforcement more dangerous, and steal the futures of many of our youth. | ||
| These bills all send the same statement to Washingtonians. | ||
| The administration does not believe you have the same right to dignity as other parts of this nation. | ||
| If Congress truly wants to make our nation's capital as safe as it can be, we would listen to the residents of D.C. and their elected leaders who have lived experience of what this community needs. | ||
| The dog whistles used to justify these bills are not true. | ||
| The D.C. government has long taken a proactive approach to reducing crime in the district, and today is experienced a three-decade low in crime. | ||
| D.C. has done this in part by having a police force that looks like the very people it is sworn to protect, lives in the community it serves, and caters to the unique needs of D.C. residents. | ||
| H.R. 5143 discourages basic public safety. | ||
| I'd like to give the gentleman an extra minute, please. | ||
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unidentified
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Without a question. | |
| Discourages public safety, pushes lies about crime in the black and brown communities, and puts everyone in harm's way at risk. | ||
| That is why it is no surprise of whose the sponsor is of this very dangerous and wicked bill. | ||
| This bill is dangerous once again and a complete disaster to this community. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote no, and with that I yield back. | ||
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Enforcing Law's Dangers
00:12:01
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|
unidentified
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Gentlewoman yields. | |
| Gentleman from California Reserves, gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield three additional minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins. | ||
|
unidentified
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Gentleman yields. | |
| Gentleman's recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| Let me just diplomatically address a couple of the accusations here regarding the nature of my bill. | ||
| The gentlelady acknowledged that there is danger involved. | ||
| Yes, yes, ma'am. | ||
| Enforcing the law is dangerous. | ||
| This is why your professional law enforcement officers across the country, including here in D.C., are incredibly well vetted and trained and equipped to make decisions in a matter of seconds or less to pursue criminals and to enforce the law. | ||
| It's dangerous work. | ||
| It's dangerous for the officer. | ||
| It can result in injury or death for the criminal. | ||
| It can result in injury or death for innocent Americans. | ||
| But let us never forget that the interaction was initiated by the criminal. | ||
| So, yes, enforcing the law is dangerous work. | ||
| What's more dangerous, Mr. Speaker, is failure to enforce the law. | ||
| What's more dangerous for every community, including our nation's capital, for which this body has a responsibility to stand, what's more dangerous for every community is failure to give discretion for enforcement of law to the very law enforcement professionals that you have trained and equipped and placed on the street. | ||
| not allow those professionals to make decisions and enforce a law. | ||
| That is incredibly dangerous. | ||
| So my bill stands on the side of the citizenry of D.C. in the effort to enforce the law by fully empowering the police officers of D.C. to engage criminal conduct and enforce the law. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield. | ||
| Gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from Maryland, Representative Ivey. | ||
| The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for five minutes. | ||
| I thank my colleague for yielding. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I want to state that I rise in strong opposition to the gentleman's bill. | ||
| I appreciate my colleague from Louisiana. | ||
| We've had a chance to serve together on committees, and I know he has a strong respect for law enforcement. | ||
| So I'm not saying his heart's in the wrong place, but I am saying this bill is wrong. | ||
| And I say that from personal experience. | ||
| You're right. | ||
| I was never in an active car pursuit. | ||
| But I was a prosecutor here in Washington, D.C., and for eight years in Prince George's County, which is the eastern border of Washington, D.C. | ||
| So I've seen the results of some of these high-speed chases. | ||
| Now, the bill that's drafted that he's proposed actually takes away a reasonable balance that was drawn by the people here of the District of Columbia, as is their right for a democracy. | ||
| And also, one of the things we need to keep in mind, and my colleague addressed this kind of briefly, but frankly skipped over it, what happens when that chase leads to the death of innocent civilians. | ||
| When you said you'd been in 100 car chases, a chill went through my body, I got to say, because I've seen the results, the deadly consequences of some of these car chases. | ||
| And when you have to go talk to that family and tell them why their loved ones died, you don't want to be up, you don't want to have to say that it was over something minor like a stolen car. | ||
| So the balance that the city struck was that it should be for an imminent violent offense, high-level felony, something like that, that really, you understand why they would have engaged in the pursuit. | ||
| But this bill would take that away and expand it open so that you could have high-speed chases taking place with respect to misdemeanors. | ||
| And this isn't a hypothetical for me. | ||
| When I was the state's attorney in Prince George's County, we actually had one of these. | ||
| Well, we had several, but I'll just pick one for purposes of time. | ||
| Police officer saw a stolen motorcycle zip down the beltway and decided to pursue it. | ||
| Now, stealing a motorcycle is a misdemeanor. | ||
| Speeding is a misdemeanor, but he decided to pursue it anyway. | ||
| Now, mind you, this is during rush hour. | ||
| So he had to pursue on the border of the road, and speeds got up to over 100 miles an hour on the beltway in rush hour. | ||
| And of course, it's hard for a car to catch a motorcycle, especially when it can weave in and out of traffic. | ||
| So he didn't make the apprehension. | ||
| But what he did do as he was speeding along on the side of the road at 100 miles an hour plus was come across debris on the car or on the road and he tried to swerve to avoid it. | ||
| And when he did that, the car jumped over the Jersey barrier between the two lanes and took him into the opposite lane of oncoming traffic. | ||
| The car jumped over, hit the top of a car coming in the opposite direction, and killed two men on their way to a concert. | ||
| They had nothing to do with any kind of high-speed chase. | ||
| They didn't have anything to do with any kind of criminal activity. | ||
| These are people who were good folks, actually just visiting in the area. | ||
| One was from Buffalo, who died because of a high-speed chase over a minor misdemeanor. | ||
| That doesn't make any sense. | ||
| And it's not like that only happens in Prince George's County. | ||
| Here in Washington, D.C., we had a similar kind of case. | ||
| It was back in 2016. | ||
| They led to a deadly chase on East Capitol and Benning Road. | ||
| Now, the chases you were talking about, maybe those are rural areas, but those are high traffic areas, even in the nighttime. | ||
| And sometimes these pursuits take place during the day. | ||
| This led to a death of an innocent man. | ||
| This was over a stolen car. | ||
| Think about what you would say to that family when you're explaining to them that your father, your brother, your son lost his life over a stolen car. | ||
| And then the other part that influences me, again, I represent Prince George's County now, but sometimes when they start high-speed chases in D.C., they go into Prince George's County, into Montgomery County, into Northern Virginia. | ||
| And we lost someone during a high-speed chase on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. | ||
| Another stolen car case. | ||
| So when we make these decisions about when a chase is permitted or should be permitted or not, we need to keep in mind that there can be deadly consequences from when this happens. | ||
| And it frequently occurs. | ||
| And it's not like this is unusual. | ||
| The Washington Post just did a piece about the park police. | ||
| 10 of these instances in recent weeks. | ||
| A couple last points. | ||
| One is liability. | ||
| The federal government is going to put this burden on the city, but when that liability happens from the gentleman's time has expired. | ||
| Want to yield another two minutes, please? | ||
| The gentleman is recognized for another two minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| When that liability arises from a car chase that didn't make any sense to a jury, the city can be on the hook for millions of dollars. | ||
| Millions of dollars. | ||
| And I guarantee they're not going to step in and have the federal government cover that for them. | ||
| So when we think about these things, we need to keep all of those things in mind. | ||
| And the last point I made, a variation on the home rule argument. | ||
| D.C. is not a rural jurisdiction. | ||
| In fact, its roads aren't even as straightforward as Manhattan. | ||
| We've got diagonal roads that cut across. | ||
| We've got circles. | ||
| We've got very dangerous intersections. | ||
| I wish my colleagues knew how tricky it could be out there, but a high-speed chase in the middle of the District of Columbia, even during the middle of the day, is almost by definition dangerous, almost under any circumstances. | ||
| So you better have a really good reason to engage in a pursuit like that. | ||
| That's not the balance that's drawn by this bill. | ||
| That's not the balance that was drawn by the people of the District of Columbia. | ||
| It should be the balance, and they should make the call, because when the deaths happen, my colleagues won't be anywhere to be found. | ||
| And with that, I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from California reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Reserve. | |
| Gentleman from Kentucky reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I strongly oppose this bill. | ||
| D.C.'s elected leaders have set clear common sense limits on high-speed chases and limits that save lives. | ||
| Just want to remind folks that states like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee recognize the danger and restricts pursuits to violent crimes or imminent deaths, and D.C. follows that same practices. | ||
| I have no further speakers and prepared to close. | ||
| The gentleman reserves? | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky? | ||
| I have no further speakers. | ||
| I'm prepared to close. | ||
| Gentleman from Kentucky Reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from California is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Close. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| I'd like to close and I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support this common sense legislation to allow police officers of the District of Columbia to pursue and apprehend criminals to keep residents and visitors in the district safe. | ||
| I yield back the balance of our time. | ||
| Gentleman yields back. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 707, the previous question is ordered on the bill as amended. | ||
| The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| And those opposed say no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| The question is on third reading. | ||
| A bill to establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects and for other purposes. | ||
| The question is on the passage of the bill. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the bill is passed. | ||
| And without objection, the motion. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I'd like to request the yays and nays, please. | ||
| The yays and nays are requested, and those in favor of a yays and nays will arise. | ||
| A sufficient number have risen, then the yays and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20. | ||
| Further proceedings on this question will be postponed. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 12A of Rule 1, the chair declares the House in recess subject to the call of the chair. | ||
|
Bills and Tributes
00:00:52
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|
unidentified
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Thank you, Mr. Boston. | |
| The House today considering two bills on Washington, D.C.'s policing and criminal sentencing reform. | ||
| Lawmakers also working on debate rules related to a seven-week funding package for the federal government beyond September 30th, and a resolution to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed last week in Utah. | ||
| In recess now, members are expected back at 4:30 p.m. for more debate before taking votes. | ||
| More live coverage when the House returns right here on C-SPAN. | ||
| To the House Judiciary Committee now, where FBI Director Kash Patel has been testifying today. | ||