July 30, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 129 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1012-E1013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BRIDGES HOME RULE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 30, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of 
Columbia Bridges Home Rule Act. This bill would repeal a redundant 1997 
federal law that makes it a crime for a person in the District of 
Columbia to obstruct any bridge connecting D.C. and Virginia. The 
District already had, and continues to have, its own local law 
prohibiting obstructing a bridge in the District. There is no federal 
law that prohibits a person in Virginia from obstructing such a bridge 
or a person in any state from obstructing a bridge connecting two 
states, and, fortunately, D.C. does not need a federal law to keep our 
bridges clear either.

[[Page E1013]]

  This law is as offensive as it is redundant. It harks back to a time 
when a private group in D.C. attempted to block the 14th Street Bridge 
into Virginia, although there is no evidence that D.C. authorities 
failed to act. The District's local criminal law prohibiting 
obstructing a bridge takes care of any obstruction occurring here.
  Under the 1997 federal law, ``whoever in the District of Columbia 
knowingly and willfully obstructs any bridge connecting the District of 
Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia . . . shall be fined not less 
than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, and in addition may be imprisoned 
not more than 30 days. . . .'' Under D.C. law, a person may be subject 
to imprisonment and/or fines for ``crowd[ing], obstruct[ing], or 
incommod[ing] . . . [t]he use of any street, avenue, alley, road, 
highway, or sidewalk.''
  The courts have long held that D.C. may repeal federal laws that 
predate the 1973 Home Rule Act (HRA) and apply exclusively in or to the 
District, but have not ruled on whether D.C. may repeal post-HRA 
federal laws that apply exclusively in or to the District. My bill 
would avoid any court challenge the District could face if it tries to 
repeal this 1997 federal law.
  This is an important step to increase home rule for the District, and 
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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