WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) called for H.J.Res.42 to receive a vote on the Senate floor. The resolution passed with bipartisan support by a margin of 56-43. Eight Democrats supported the measure.
If signed by President Biden, the resolution will nullify the DC Council’s “Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022,” an anti-policing measure that endangers Americans in the District of Columbia.
“Today’s vote is a victory for the safety and security of every American who visits our nation’s capital,” said Senator Vance. “It is also a strong statement in support of the hardworking men and women of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department. With this vote, Congress has sent President Biden a clear and bipartisan message: the American people have rejected the radical left and they want to see law and order in Washington.”
Read more from The Daily Caller.
For Background:
- H.J.Res.42 passed in the House by a vote of 229-189 with the support of 14 Democrats.
- Under the Enclave Clause of the Constitution, Congress has plenary authority over the District of Columbia.
- As a result of the Enclave Clause, as well as extensive legal precedent, if the President signs the legislation into law, it will overturn DC’s anti-policing ordinance.
- According to the DC Police Union, “Since this Act was passed on an emergency basis in DC, the MPD has lost over 1,200 police officers while only replacing 700.” MPD is likely at the lowest number of officers since the 1970s, at a time when violent crime is surging.
- Violent crime is out of control in Washington.
- In 2022, there were 203 homicides in DC, compared to 88 in 2012.
- In the first four months of 2023, there have been 252 carjackings (74% involved firearms). Carjacking crimes have dramatically risen for five straight years in DC
- The DC Metropolitan Police Department has acknowledged an “increase in street robberies across the city” and provided “tips” to avoid being a victim. For example, they urge women “walking in public spaces” to “carry a small handbag or purse that you can grasp with a hand.”
- Former DC Councilmember Jack Evans lamented earlier this year that DC is “on pace to have the most homicides since 1995” and “must address its crime issue.” “Now, homicides have surpassed 200 for the second year and our city appears lawless. People jump Metro turnstiles, shoplifting is epidemic and street crime and carjackings are routine.”
- The Washington Post has also commented on the “alarming regularity of violence” in the city in a piece published last year.
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