Todd Tiahrt: “I would like to step back just 6 years and look at the District of Columbia because it was a very different place then.…”

“I would like to step back just 6 years and look at the District of Columbia because it was a very different place then. They were running a budget deficit. Schools were failing. It was known as the murder capital. And crime had kept people in fear. The first interaction that I had with the District of Columbia was trying to get a constituent who had been killed by a taxi, have their body released to the family. Red tape ruled in the District of Columbia, and it was a very large task just to get the deceased released to their family. But today it is a better city by a long ways. The D.C. budget is balanced, and that is why it was accepted in this bill. The quality of education has improved through charter schools and through new projects in public schools. It is a safer community to live in. And the people from Kansas are more comfortable when they come to the District of Columbia. Things have gotten better. But it did not happen by accident. Congress did get involved. It provided oversight. The D.C. control Board insisted on revisions to the city and to the police department. The gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) said earlier the Federal city belongs to everyone. I think that is exactly what the writers of the Constitution had in mind when they gave Congress, and I quote, "power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever," in article 1, section 8 of our Constitution.”