Disapproving the Action of the District of Columbia Council in Approving the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I am so glad the Senator from Tennessee is on the floor with H.J. Res. 26. I want to thank him for being insightful to know how important this is going to be to this Congress, to this city, to this country. So I thank the Senator for his steadfast work on this issue, and I look forward to supporting the resolution. We are also going to be talking a lot on the floor about this. So I thank him very much.

I rise today to talk about an issue that I actually came to the floor on 3 weeks ago and that is just very, very relevant, especially today, and that is out-of-control crime and a disregard for law and order that, unfortunately, President Biden has enabled in his own backyard.

Under the Biden administration's soft-on-crime agenda and rhetoric, Washington, DC, the capital of our beautiful country, has seen a 25- percent increase in crime, a 33-percent increase in homicides, a 121- percent increase in sexual abuse, and a 108-percent increase in motor vehicle theft--just this year, and we are just starting.

To make matters worse, in the midst of ongoing crime, the DC Council thought that now was an appropriate time to rewrite the Criminal Code. Instead of enforcing law and order in light of all of these statistics and supporting our police officers and making residents and visitors of the District feel safe, the DC Council found it fitting to lessen the punishment for violent criminal offenses--hard to believe, isn't it?-- and embolden those who dare to break the law instead of heeding local calls for increased safety and policing from their residents.

It really doesn't get any more tone-deaf than that. Believe it or not, when the DC Council originally passed their irresponsible Criminal Code overall, Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the bill--the Mayor of the city of DC-- claiming that ``this bill does not make us safer.''

She knows. She sees these statistics every single day and talks to her police officers every single day.

Well, Mayor Bowser, my colleagues and I could not agree with you more. It is obvious that the DC Council's legislation is the complete opposite of what is needed to control the out-of-control crime.

Now, I am sure that you have seen that, in the face of an imminent bipartisan and bicameral rejection of their policy, the DC Council, then, has attempted to withdraw their Criminal Code revision legislation. That is a glaring--a glaring--admission by the council that they knew what they were doing is absolutely wrong.

But do you know what? It is simply too little, too late. Regardless of this unprecedented and potentially unlawful move, the Senate is poised to reject the DC Council's sweeping and irresponsible ``Revised Criminal Code of 2022'' on a bipartisan basis. We certainly saw that in the House.

This vote, led by my colleague Senator Hagerty of Tennessee, gives every Member of the U.S. Senate the chance to stand with law and order, the chance to stand with our law enforcement officers, the chance to stand with the people of our Nation's Capital, whose calls for safety have fallen on deaf ears.

You think of all the visitors--springtime, Cherry Blossom Festival-- this is the time everybody is coming to this beautiful, gorgeous city that we are lucky enough to serve in. Our constituents are here. Many of us have our families here. We are here. All the staff and folks that work in and around these buildings every day--in and out of their cars, in and out of restaurants we hope--getting that revival post-COVID that we see. And certainly we see many, many more visitors. Our residents and visitors are living with what could happen. What kind of crimes can they see?

There are a multitude of additional negative factors that impact the city when crime runs out of control and leaders are not held accountable. Often these issues go unseen, but they are just as impactful: factors like the education of our children, factors like the health of our residents--our DC residents--and the strength of the economy.

According to research led by the professors at the University of Illinois, at Syracuse, and NYU, students face declines in standardized test scores following exposure to violent crime. What is that doing to the children of DC? They have to face this every day.

The same decline was observed for students who attend schools that are perceived to be unsafe or schools that lack a sense of community. This study suggests that schools with stronger community bonds can shield students from the negative effects of neighborhood violence and directly show the disadvantages impacting our young people who are coming of age in dangerous communities.

When it comes to health, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have linked violent crime to negative health outcomes--it makes sense--finding that decreased violent crime in communities was significantly associated with a decrease in mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease. Community areas that experienced a similar decline in crime also experienced smaller improvements in cardiovascular mortality.

The study also noted that the stress created by exposure to violent crime is tied with a lower intake of healthy foods and higher rates of substance abuse in a community. These aren't things that I am making up. These are validated in a study from the University of Pennsylvania.

Further, the study noted that continued exposure to high rates of violent crime is associated with several additional negative health factors, like higher body mass index and even elevated blood pressure.

So now let's look at the economics of this in crime. A study by the Urban Institute found that surges in violent crime, especially gun violence, reduced the growth of new retail and service businesses. You see that all over Washington. You see that all over Washington.

It further notes that increases in violent crime slow home value appreciation and can be associated with fewer jobs and lower home values. It makes sense. In Washington, DC, this means surging crime leads to fewer job opportunities, fewer businesses opening, and more businesses closing. I mean we just saw that at Union Station. I think the Starbucks pulled out there because of the crime issue.

The economic indicators of violent crimes are obvious. Walmart just announced it is closing all of its stores in Portland, OR, locations. The Walmart just over here in DC on H Street has announced that it was closing as well. The announcements come shortly after Walmart's CEO warned that stores could close and prices could increase due to, specifically, rocketing retail crimes affecting stores across the Nation.

Each of these aspects pile onto the obvious humanitarian effects of violent crime: the destruction, loss, and sorrow--actually, I think if you are subject to a violent crime and you manage to live through it, it doesn't just affect you that day; you carry it with you the rest of your life--and how each one of these offenses further rips apart the delicate fabric of our communities.

Residents of our States and cities will not stand for the continuing devastation. We saw crime play a major part in Chicago's mayoral election just last week, and it was also a center of debate of the New York City elections in 2021.

So, Mr. President, I am glad that our Nation's Capital and our complex are once again open to the public. It is so great to see the halls filled and the young people coming back, and I have enjoyed welcoming many West Virginians to Washington today and every day to talk about the issues they care about. It is important. Questions have also been raised by many residents about the safety of our streets here in Washington, DC.

So today's vote to reject the DC Council's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 puts every Member on record. As some of my Republican colleagues highlighted last night and continue to highlight today, we intend to stand on the right side of this issue, and we will continue to heed the calls for increased safety that local officials in Washington are attempting to ignore or reshape and protect the communities that we serve.

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