District of Columbia Home Rule Amendment Act

Floor Speech

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOME RULE AMENDMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - May 08, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, may I offer my thanks to the chairman of the subcommittee, particularly for the very expeditious way in which he has moved my request for early consideration of the matter before us now.

I rise to request passage of H.R. 2080, a bill to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in keeping with District public school charter revisions proposed by Mayor Adrian Fenty and passed by the Council of the District of Columbia.

I very much appreciate that Chairman Henry Waxman and Chairman Danny Davis considered this bill expeditiously, and the leadership has kindly granted our request for early consideration of the bill on the House floor on the suspension calendar in light of the fact that the matter before the House is not controversial.

The bill supports the District in moving on its own to correct problems in its local school system.

In fact, H.R. 2080 is before the Congress only because the current Home Rule Act now in the process of being revised requires that certain changes to the District's charter be made by Federal legislation. I stress that the underlying school reorganization involves no Federal funds and is entirely a local school issue.

However, H.R. 2080 is of major importance to the District of Columbia. And if it were possible, the city would have made these revisions effective immediately. Therefore, I am grateful to the Federal Workforce chair, Mr. Danny Davis, and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman for moving this bill as soon as possible in committee, and the subsequent movement to the House floor the very next week, the week in which we now find ourselves.

The school structure change in particular puts a heavy and unprecedented burden on the administration of a new mayor, Mayor Adrian Fenty. Many in the Congress have over the years urged changes in the D.C. public schools; and therefore, I know that the last thing Congress wants to do is get in the way or slow a difficult local school reform process.

The extra congressional level of procedure for a local school restructuring is not within the expertise of a national legislative body whose agenda is packed with urgent national concerns.

The necessity for a Member of Congress to introduce a bill for a self-governing city is an anachronism neither the Congress nor the District deserves or can afford today. I promise the Congress I will try to make this the last time the House or the Senate is requested to pass a charter bill of no concern and of little interest to the Congress of the United States.

I strongly ask that all Members support the swift passage of this bill today.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source