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Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, this amendment would give the District of Columbia mayor control over the D.C. National Guard. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Congressman Anthony Brown are co-leads of this amendment.

The Governors of the States and territories control their National Guards, while the President controls the D.C. National Guard. This amendment would give the D.C. mayor the same control over the D.C. National Guard that the Governors of the States and territories have over their National Guards.

The President would have the same authority to federalize the D.C. National Guard that the President has to federalize the National Guards of the States and territories.

The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the events at Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020, are prime examples of why the D.C. mayor should control the D.C. National Guard.

During January 6, the Trump administration delayed deploying the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol for several hours, likely costing lives and prolonging the attack.

At Lafayette Square, the Trump administration used the D.C. National Guard to forcibly remove peaceful protesters for a President photo op.

National Guards are generally deployed for natural disasters and civil disturbances. The D.C. mayor, who knows D.C. better than any Federal official, should be able to deploy the D.C. National Guard to protect D.C. residents.

In the event of a large-scale attack on a Federal facility in D.C., the D.C. mayor would almost certainly deploy the D.C. National Guard to protect the facility. However, in the unlikely event that the D.C. mayor did not do so, the President would have the authority to federalize and deploy the D.C. National Guard to do so.

This is no different from the division of authority today between a Governor and the President in the event of a large-scale attack on a Federal facility in a State or territory.

Moreover, Presidential control over the D.C. National Guard creates a loophole in the Posse Comitatus Act which limits the military's involvement in civil law enforcement.

The Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel has opined that when the D.C. National Guard is operating for non-Federal purposes, even though it is an exclusively Federal entity, it may be used for civilian law enforcement without violating Posse Comitatus.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment which would be a historic advance in D.C. self-government and improve public safety in the Nation's Capitol.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman fails to understand that the deployment of the D.C. National Guard would have to take place no matter who controls the National Guard, whether the President or the mayor.

If the mayor controls the National Guard, she would have to deploy it. She would have to make sure the National Guard is ready to proceed. So the gentleman's objection would have no merit.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I remind the gentleman that this House has twice passed the D.C. statehood bill, and that the bill that I have put before you will give the President the same authority to federalize the D.C. National Guard that the President has to federalize the National Guards of the States and territories, so it would pose no issue for deployment of the National Guard.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, nothing more than what we saw on January 6 educates us to why it is important for the mayor of the District of Columbia to have control of the National Guard.

That period during which the National Guard was held up because the mayor had no control accounted for much of the problems that we are still fighting that came out of January 6.

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