District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act, which would give the mayor of the District of Columbia control over the D.C. National Guard. I am very pleased that Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has primary jurisdiction over this bill, is an original cosponsor, as is Congressman Anthony Brown, a member of the Committee on Armed Services, which also has jurisdiction over this bill. The mayor of the District should have the same authority over the D.C. National Guard that governors of the states and territories have over their National Guards. Each governor--including the governors of the three U.S. territories with National Guards--has the authority to deploy their National Guard to protect his or her state or territory, just as local militia did historically. The events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the events at Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020, are prime examples of why this bill is so important.
The National Guards in the states and territories operate under dual federal and local jurisdiction. Yet the D.C. National Guard operates under the sole jurisdiction of the president. Today, by far the most likely need for the D.C. National Guard here would be for natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, and to restore order in the wake of civil disturbances. The mayor, who knows the city better than any federal official and who works closely with federal security officials, should be able to call out the D.C. National Guard for local natural disasters and civil disturbances. The president should be focused on national matters, including homeland security, not local D.C. matters. If it makes sense that governors have control over their National Guards, it makes equal sense for the mayor of the District, with a population the size of a small state, to have the same authority.
My bill is another important step toward completing the transfer of full self-government powers to the District that Congress began with the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973, when it delegated most of its authority over District matters to an elected mayor and Council. The bill follows that model.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
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