James M. Jeffords: “I want to raise a very important issue relative to the District of Columbia. First of all, I want to commend the…”

“I want to raise a very important issue relative to the District of Columbia. First of all, I want to commend the subcommittee chairman. I served just ahead of him in that capacity. I know of the tremendous responsibility he has, and I have admired the way he has been handling his job. I have also admired the way they have put the bill together this year to help the city of Washington. But there are problems that are really beyond the possibility of the subcommittee to correct. These are what I want to discuss today. First of all, let us remember what the important issues facing this Nation are and reflect and look at the District of Columbia with respect to those. The District of Columbia, as we all know, is the Nation's Capital. But I think sometimes we Members have a tendency to forget that we are responsible now for the city of Washington. We, in 1974, turned the city over to home rule. As that experience turned out to be rife with difficulty for the residents of D.C., Congress made efforts to become more vigorously involved with the city's governance.”