{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-calls-house-vote-down-dc-crimes-act-tomorrow", "Norton Calls on House to Vote Down D.C. CRIMES Act Tomorrow", "2024-05-14", "2024", "2024-05", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Holmes Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", "norton", "https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called on the House to vote down the D.C. CRIMES Act when it is considered on the House floor tomorrow. The bill would remove D.C.\u2019s authority to increase or decrease criminal penalties for violations of its own local laws and could be construed to prevent D.C. from establishing any new crimes in the future. Passage and enactment would be the most substantial rollback of D.C.\u2019s authority to govern itself in 30 years.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m calling on the House to vote against this radical, undemocratic, and paternalistic bill when it comes to the floor,\u201d Norton said. \u201cThis bill would work against the purported \u2018concern\u2019 by Republican members of Congress with crime in D.C. by hampering the District\u2019s ability to deter or punish criminal activity. D.C.\u2019s three top elected officials, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb also oppose the bill, which would be the most substantial rollback of D.C.\u2019s home rule authority in a generation.\n\n\u201cThe D.C. CRIMES Act, which was introduced by a member of Congress from Florida, states the D.C. Council may not \u2018enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the enactment of the DC CRIMES Act of 2024.\u2019 This provision, which does not define the term \u2018criminal liability sentence,\u2019 is as poorly drafted as it is offensive. If D.C. wanted to increase penalties for violent crime, it could not do so under this bill. Perhaps most egregiously, it could even be construed by a court to prevent D.C. from establishing any new crimes at all.\n\n\u201cThe Revolutionary War was fought to give consent to the governed and to end taxation without representation. Yet, D.C. residents cannot consent to any action taken by Congress and pay full federal taxes. Indeed, D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and more total federal taxes than 20 states.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are worthy and capable of self-government. I\u2019m calling on the House to vote down this anti-home rule legislation.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:01:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-calls-house-vote-down-dc-crimes-act-tomorrow"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7553421892225742, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}