It was one month ago today I was at the
Capitol with a handful of Senate Democrats,
DC Delegate Norton and Mayor Bowser,
as a proposal was reintroduced
that would make DC the 51st state.
Now, just 30 days later,
DC lawmakers are having to fight
back against a historic challenge
by Congress that affects the ability
of the district to govern itself.
And here's what it's about.
This is the 275 page DC revised
Criminal Code Act.
DC Council passed it and they sent
it to the Capitol where Congress
has 60 days to try and stop it.
Ohh, and they're trying to stop it.
So a resolution of disapproval,
it passed the House and now
it's sitting in the Senate.
But here's an interesting quirk
right most legislation in the Senate,
it requires a 60 vote threshold
to pass the filibuster rule.
You know about this, not this one.
Only a majority of votes are needed,
51 votes to pass this measure.
So DC can only afford 2 Democrats
to defect and vote with the GOP.
Then the bill goes to the White House,
where President Biden is signaling
that he'd use his veto pen for
the first time in his presidency.
But he hasn't.
Right.
Setting now,
I spoke to Tennessee Republican
Senator Bill Haggerty,
who's the main sponsor of this bill to
try and overturn DC's Criminal Code Act.
I'm
not big footing the DC City Council.
They in essence bigoted their own mayor.
Mayor Bowser vetoed this.
They overrode the veto.
I think what they're trying to do
is send some sort of, you know,
woke signaling to the world,
but they're putting residents of
DC at a greater risk of harm,
at greater risk of of having
their property stolen.
They're going to make the
district a much less safe place.
By lowering penalties and frankly,
incentivizing more crime.
Alright with us tonight as DC
Attorney General Brian Schwab.
General Schwab,
thank you so much for joining us.
You, along with all 13
members of the DC Council,
you want hands off DC, you've sent this
letter to Majority Leader Schumer. What's
the message you're trying to convey?
But the basic message is the 700,000
people who live in the District
of Columbia ought to have the
same kind of rights that Americans
across the country have to affect
our own local affairs effectively.
It's disrespectful.
It's insulting to those of us who live
in the district, who've worked very,
very hard to make sure our city is safer,
to have politicians from other states come
in and tell us that our laws don't matter.
So the main message is treat the
residents of the District of Columbia
with the respect we deserve as
Americans respect our legislation.
Local laws, of
course. It's written into the DC
Home Rule Act that Congress does have
the right to step in. The question
here is should they be stepping in?
I wanna talk to you for a second about the
merits of the revised Criminal Code Act
because there's been a lot of discussion.
Of course. It passed the house with
bipartisan support, 31 members.
Democrats crossing over and voting for this,
the talk that this bill would lower
mandatory minimum sentences and that would
somehow increase crime in the district.
What do you make of that argument?
Like, it's important to remember that.
Our Criminal Code is more
than 120 years out of date.
It was passed at a time where
women and African Americans weren't
even at the table to talk about
what our Criminal Code should be.
And after 10 plus years of working hard
with a lot of input from smart people,
from law enforcement, from judges,
from people around the community,
our Council passed a revised code,
95% of which is totally uncontroversial.
We have now been able to make our
code get rid of some of the internal
inconsistencies in the code.
And bring it into the modern era.
We model it after the model Penal Code,
which 28 states around this
country already have done.
So why are Republicans in Congress
so freaked out about this?
Well, unfortunately,
crime plays to politics,
and sound bites rather than
sound logic oftentimes get
in the way of policy making,
particularly when it comes to crime.
This crime bill is not soft on crime,
despite the narrative.
That's a false narrative.
When you look at what the
crime bill actually does,
it increases the sentences.
On several crimes,
including attempted murder from
five years up to more than 20 years.
So the real facts don't support
the narrative that some people
in Congress are advancing
as a soft on crime bill.
Let's talk about the concerns real quick.
Sure, general, let's talk about the
concerns in the Senate that all it takes
is 2 Democrats to crossover and join
the 49 Republicans who have sponsored
and cosponsored this legislation.
We've got to be concerned right
about moderate Democrats.
John Tester from Montana,
Joe Manchin from West Virginia.
Potentially
even Tim Kaine in Virginia,
who's up for reelection
in 2024. How big of a
concern is that for you?
Look, my confidence is in the senators,
both Republican and Democrat,
who are going to try to do the right thing
by the people who live in this country,
including the 700,000 people who
live in the District of Columbia.
Get away from sound bites and look
at what really is happening here.
There are two things to focus on.
One is a core democratic principle
that the voters in the District
of Columbia should have the right
to control our own affairs.
We pay more taxes than many,
many people around the country.
OK, we fight in the military.
We've died for our country and
we spent a long time trying
to make our community safer.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of people
in Congress, Republicans especially,
who who don't believe that and don't care.
Well, I hope people will care.
Nobody cares more about being
safe in the District of Columbia
than the people who live here,
the people who are elected to work
here and make our city safer.
And I have a confidence level as the
chief law enforcement officer in the city,
the elected law enforcement
officer that a crime bill that
makes our crime laws clearer.
More consistent,
allow us to administer justice in efficient
clear way will make us a safer city,
and a system that works well,
results in a safer city.
And last question for you here, Mr.
Attorney General, Council Chairman
Phil Mendelson said at one point
he was convinced that most
people on the hill that would be
voting on this haven't even read
the revised Criminal Code Act.
Do you believe that?
I think unfortunately the national politics,
the divisive national politics
that our country is in use the
District of Columbia as a football,
as a pawn in that game.
I think if the Senators and
their staff will read the bill,
take the time to study it,
they will find that this is
not a soft on crime bill.
It's a well thought out Bill.
In fact it has sentences in it
that are higher than many of the
states from which they hail.
And I hope that they will also
respect the core democratic value of
letting the people in the District
of Columbia control our own affairs.
Well, they've got to take it up.
Before May 11th.
If they don't, this bill will
go into effect automatically.
DC Attorney General Brian Schwab,
we appreciate your
time. Thanks for coming.
You having me? You bet.