Comer Warns Of Increased Crime: ‘Progressive Policies Of The DC City Council Are Simply Not Working’

4 months ago

Last week, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) delivered remarks on proposed legislation related to curbing crime in DC during a House Rules Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00on oversight and accountability. Chairman Comer, I welcome your testimony. Thank you, Madam Chair,

00:06and good to see you, Ranking Member McGovern. I urge the Rules Committee to grant a prompt

00:12and appropriate rule for the House's consideration of H.R. 7530, the D.C. Crimes Act. In reporting out

00:19H.R. 7530, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability holds that Congress must act

00:24to exert its constitutional responsibility to oversee the District of Columbia

00:29and make certain necessary amendments to the District's criminal code. The Committee on

00:34Oversight and Accountability has held three hearings with D.C. officials. Various committee

00:40members have also met privately with D.C. officials to discuss the crime crisis in our nation's

00:45capital. Throughout this work, one thing has been made very clear to us. The progressive policies

00:51of the D.C. Council are simply not working. Last year, this Congress successfully blocked the D.C.

00:58Council's revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 by passing the bipartisan House Joint Resolution 26,

01:07the first law passed by this 118th Congress. That was a great first step towards addressing

01:13rising crime in D.C., but that only kept the problem from getting much worse. The bill we

01:19are considering today expands upon that work. The D.C. Crimes Act overturns targeted portions

01:26of the D.C. Council's Youth Rehabilitation Act by amending the definition of a youth offender

01:32from a person under the age of 25 to under the age of 18. Let me emphasize D.C.'s current law.

01:40Currently, D.C. code allows a criminal under the age of 25 to be given the same leniency that is

01:48afforded to minors. This bill requires that we treat adult criminals as adults. To further

01:55address soaring juvenile crime in the District, the bill would require the D.C. Attorney General

02:01to create a publicly available website that tracks juvenile crime data. This data will inform

02:08Congress, the District's elected officials, the Metropolitan Police Department, the public,

02:14and others on the severity of juvenile crime in the City. Finally, the bill prohibits the D.C.

02:21Council from amending its sentencing and criminal liability laws, locking in place current D.C.

02:26criminal law, and leaving Congress as the sole authority to amend such laws in the future.

02:32The D.C. Council would have succeeded in implementing radical soft on crime policies

02:38if it were not for the bipartisan effort of this Congress to disapprove the legislation.

02:44Even Democratic Mayor Bowser vetoed that progressive criminal reform package

02:49only to see her veto be overturned by the Council. This committee is committed to its

02:56constitutional responsibility to oversee the District. We cannot allow further pro-crime

03:01policies to be put in place while this crisis continues. Citizens of D.C. and visitors to our

03:07nation's capital deserve to feel safe. This bill is a great step towards ensuring our capital city

03:14is safe. Again, I ask the Rules Committee to grant a prompt and appropriate rule for the

03:19House's consideration of this legislation, and I welcome the committee's questions.

Comer Warns Of Increased Crime: ‘Progressive Policies Of The DC City Council Are Simply Not Working’

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