McCollum Votes on D.C. Home Rule legislation (H.J. Res. 142)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 142 which would override a tax reform made by D.C.’s elected City Council. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) runs out of funding in less than ten days. Republicans should be using this valuable time to negotiate a bipartisan deal to see an end to DHS's violent tactics in the Twin Cities and Minnesota at large. But what pressing issue does the Republican Majority want to tackle instead? They want to waste more of the American people’s time by debating and overturning local laws of the District of Columbia.

Mr. Speaker, none of us ran for or were elected to serve as D.C. City Council members. I’ve been a city council member. It’s a very different job, with a direct line of responsibility to the residents who elect you to deal with everything from potholes to public safety. That local representation and local responsiveness is a key part of our democracy, and Republicans are proposing to strip that local self-governance away from the residents of the District of Columbia.

All Members of Congress are sent here by our constituents to represent their interests, and to vote on matters of federal importance. We aren’t sent here to rule on specific local ordinances or decisions made by the cities and counties in any of our districts. Yet Republicans have brought H.J. Res. 142 to the floor to do exactly that. Republicans want to tell the District of Columbia’s 700,000 residents that the laws and policies they have voted for, and that were crafted by their local elected officials, are null and void.

D.C. residents deserve the same right to govern themselves as we enjoy in the Fourth District. That is why I urge my colleagues to reject H.J. Res. 142 which would overturn local tax credits designed to reduce child poverty and support families facing economic hardship. Congress should never prevent a municipality from using its own locally raised funds to strengthen their community. Today, I will vote to defend the rights of the residents of D.C.—as I would my own constituents—to ensure Republicans do not override these important budgetary decisions enacted by the D.C. City Council. I will not vote for these attempts to decide those issues for a single district at the local level, whether in the District of Columbia or in the districts of any Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I respect the will of D.C. residents to shape their local government through their local elections, and that is why I will not support H.J. Res. 142. I urge my colleagues in the majority to focus on issues of national importance, like negotiating a bipartisan deal to rein in the Department of Homeland Security, and leave the governing of D.C. to their city council.

I yield back.