During a press conference last week, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) was asked about the District of Columbia’s Home Rule Act.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [inaudible]
00:02 In the back.
00:04 Thank you, Chairman. So, Representative Byron Donalds has a bill, the D.C. Crime Bill 2024, that aims to address the crime problem in D.C.
00:12 However, D.C. has a law that's taking into effect on Saturday that pretty much addresses crime in the city.
00:20 And so, you know, the Republicans I've talked to have said that they feel like Congress should have a say in what goes on in D.C.
00:27 because, you know, Congress has jurisdiction over the whole country.
00:30 And, you know, a lot of D.C. people feel like that infringes upon their, you know, supposed statehood.
00:35 And so what I want to know is where do Democrats stand on this bill?
00:40 And additionally, do you think that Congress should have a harder, heavier hand in D.C. politics
00:46 and how the people who live in the city govern themselves?
00:50 Democrats overwhelmingly believe in home rule, in the people of D.C. having to make decisions regarding their own bills and legislation.
01:00 I'm surrounded. I was the only one who didn't go up here who didn't serve in the State House.
01:05 We have state senators and state representatives, majority and minority leaders, you know, over here in the State Houses as well.
01:13 All of us, I was a local mayor and guided local budgets related to public safety.
01:20 All of us have tried to spend a significant amount of time, you know, working to keep our communities safe,
01:26 balancing the interests of constituents and communities with law enforcement groups and organizations,
01:32 wanting to seek justice for people while offering, you know, opportunity.
01:39 And so, you know, we've all had to wear those hats.
01:43 And most of us arrive here from the position of supporting, you know, home rule
01:48 and allowing individuals in D.C. to help guide those efforts.
01:53 But we understand the tricky nature and our role here in funding some of those.
01:58 Overwhelmingly, this is viewed as not a serious effort that the Republican majority is undertaking.
02:06 Ranking Member Jimmy Raskin spoke specifically, you know, about this bill, you know, in caucus.
02:12 He talked about the example he gave was, you know, it's a 40-year sentence for carjacking within D.C.
02:22 In Kentucky, where the chairman of the committee is from, there's no statute for carjacking.
02:28 I mean, so the people of D.C. do have rules and laws in place that protect their residents.
02:34 We overwhelmingly will come down in support of home rule
02:38 and reject this overly political effort that the majority is undertaking.
02:43 Quick follow-up to that.
02:44 Sure.
02:45 Are Democrats worried that it may seem as though Republicans care about addressing crime in the city more than Democrats are?
02:51 No, because we believe we have a track record of supporting law enforcement and supporting public safety.
02:56 You know, time and time again, you heard the vice chair, the data says on community funding projects.
03:02 Our colleagues up here on this, up here, as well as colleagues in the Democratic caucus,
03:07 overwhelmingly put resources into our local law enforcement agencies.
03:11 We want to increase the flexibility that local law enforcement agencies have to draw down on those federal resources.
03:17 That's what Amelia Sykes' bill would do.
03:19 In the last Congress, we did those types of things, put investments in mental health services,
03:24 the gun safety legislation that also had red flag laws, red is a part of it.
03:32 I mean, those are things that we believe in that keep actually keep our community safe.
03:37 In contrast to House Republicans who support the Republican study committee budget that drastically cuts public safety.
03:44 They've supported budgets last year that reduced across the board public safety grants and aid to the Department of Justice.
03:53 I mean, those are things. So we just have a track record in supporting our local law enforcement agencies and public safety in general that we're not concerned about that.
04:01 Thank you.
04:02 Thank you.
04:03 Thank you.