WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today issued the below statement regarding the House of Representatives proposed resolutions to overturn the District’s democratically enacted laws:

“As Attorney General of our nation’s capital, I am committed to using the law to stand up for our democratic values. This means taking on the fight to protect fundamental rights, including the rights to reproductive freedom, to love whom we choose, to be free from bigotry and hate, and especially to vote and fully participate in our representative democracy. 

The District of Columbia should be allowed to govern itself. District residents pay more federal taxes per capita than any other state, serve in the military, and contribute to the national welfare just the same as people everywhere else. Yet we live without the full rights of citizenship. One of the impacts of this injustice is that politicians elected elsewhere—politicians who don’t live here and who aren’t accountable to District residents—can attempt to obstruct our democratic processes and usurp the authority of our elected officials.

This week, the House of Representatives will vote on whether to bypass our Council, overturn our democratically enacted laws, and deny the will of District residents. I urge members of Congress to respect our fundamental right to self-government by voting against H.J. Res. 26 and H.J. Res. 24.”

Yesterday, AG Schwalb sent a letter Speaker Kevin McCarthy urging Congress to vote against the proposed resolutions.

A copy of that letter is available here.