D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bipartisan bill. This bill would allow the District of Columbia to transform the RFK Stadium campus, 174 acres of underutilized Federal land in D.C. that primarily consists of parking lots, sports fields, and a long-vacant stadium in the process of being demolished, into a thriving mixed-use development.

The National Capital Planning Commission, the central planning agency for the Federal Government in the District of Columbia, has long called for the revitalization of the campus, and the Department of the Interior testified in support of the goals of this bill.

During my tenure, Congress has passed several bipartisan bills to transform underutilized land in D.C. into thriving mixed-use developments, including The Yards on the southeast waterfront and The Wharf on the southwest waterfront. Reservation 13, 67 acres next to the RFK campus, is now being transformed into a mixed-use development.

Since 1988, D.C. has leased, without consideration, the RFK Stadium campus from the Department of the Interior. The lease only permits D.C. to use the campus for recreation, a stadium, and open space. The lease expires in 2038.

This bill would give D.C. administrative jurisdiction over the campus for at least 99 years and permit D.C. to use the campus for commercial and residential development, recreation, a stadium, parks, and open space.

This bill would require D.C. to preserve 30 percent of the campus for parks and open space, and prohibit D.C. from building along the waterfront.

This bill is a win-win for the Federal and D.C. Governments. As the Department of the Interior testified, this bill would allow D.C. to transform the campus from ``acres of asphalt to a complex focused on community sports, recreation, park space, and community amenities'' and would ``guarantee public access to a sizable amount of park land and outdoor recreation areas.''

At the same time, this bill would allow D.C. to create a mixed-use development and to generate significant revenue for D.C.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Comer for his leadership and partnership on this bill, and I also thank Chairman Westerman and Ranking Member Grijalva for their work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

The National Park Service has a maintenance backlog of $23 billion, including $2 billion in the District of Columbia alone. The National Park Service does not have the money to transform the RFK Stadium site from acres of asphalt into parks or mixed uses.

There is precedent for Congress giving title to or administration jurisdiction over Federal land to States and other jurisdictions for no consideration. We do not have to look far for examples. Let's look at two of the many examples in D.C.

First, section 8124 of title 40 of the U.S. Code has long permitted the Federal Government to transfer administrative jurisdiction over Federal land in D.C. to the D.C. government for no consideration. Second, in 1986, Congress directed the Department of the Interior to enter into a 50-year lease with D.C. for the RFK Stadium site for no consideration.

While it is true that H.R. 4984 does not require D.C. to pay the Federal Government for administrative jurisdiction over the RFK Stadium site, it is expected D.C. will spend hundreds of millions of dollars transforming the site from acres of asphalt into mixed-use development.

This bill would not require a stadium to be built at the site. Whether to build a stadium would be a decision for the elected D.C. government. Several members of the D.C. Council have expressed opposition to a new football stadium at the site.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.

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