On the recordJune 13, 2023
I thank my good friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on overriding the veto. H.J. Res. 42 is a profoundly undemocratic, paternalistic resolution. Congress, in which the nearly 700,000 District of Columbia residents have no voting representation, is attempting to nullify legislation passed by D.C.'s locally elected legislature. While it is true that Congress has the constitutional authority to legislate on local D.C. matters, it is false that Congress has a constitutional obligation to do so. It is a choice. D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are capable and worthy of governing themselves. Democracy, according to the dictionary, is ``a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.'' D.C.'s lack of voting representation in Congress and Congress' plenary authority over D.C. are the antithesis of democracy. The legislative history and merits of D.C.'s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which is the subject of H.J. Res. 42, should be irrelevant, since there is never justification for Congress nullifying legislation enacted by D.C., but I would like to briefly discuss them.…
