Crime rates in Washington, D.C., which have grown by 25 percent since last year, likely influenced President Biden’s controversial decision to sign a Republican-led resolution (S.J. Res. 12) to block D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code Act lowering penalties on certain crimes, if the resolution is passed by the Senate.
Biden tweeted on Thursday, “I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings. If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”
Democrats have long sought statehood for Washington, D.C., which would most likely give them more seats in the Senate and allow self-rule for the district. If Congress votes to block the bill, it would be the first time in 30 years that has happened. Congress has legislative oversight in D.C. as written in the U.S. Constitution.
According to The Washington Post, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, on Thursday sent a letter to the Senate “after dozens of House Democrats joined Republicans to block two D.C. bills this month, one that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, and one that would overhaul the city’s outdated criminal code.” Bowser tweeted, “I call on all senators who share a commitment to the basic democratic principles of self-determination and local control to vote ‘NO’ on any disapproval resolutions involving duly enacted laws of the District of Columbia.”
The Post continued:
“The insult of limited Home Rule is that the 700,000 DC residents and taxpaying Americans, and their duly elected officials, must endure the review and oversight of our laws by officials not elected to represent our interests or values,” Bowser wrote in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Bowser’s comments not only demonstrated her frustration and lack of understanding of the Constitution’s hold on D.C., but also showed her arrogance — as well as her desire to take another shot at lobbying for the district’s statehood.
Democrat-led cities lead the nation in crime rates in comparison to Republican led cities. A November 2022 article on Democrat-run crime-ridden cities summarized a Heritage Foundation report titled The Blue City Murder Problem, and “highlighted that 27 of the top 30 cities with the highest murder rates as of June 2022 were run by Democratic mayors, except for Lexington, Kentucky, and Jacksonville, Florida, which are run by Republican mayors, and Las Vegas, which has an independent mayor.”
The Heritage report exposed the truth of the growing crime rates in “blue” cities:
Those on the Left know that their soft-on-crime policies have wreaked havoc in the cities where they have implemented those policies. It is not hard to understand why “reforms” such as ending cash bail, defunding the police, refusing to prosecute entire categories of crimes, letting thousands of convicted felons out of prison early, significantly cutting the prison population, and other “progressive” ideas have led to massive spikes in crime—particularly violent crime, including murder—in the communities where those on the Left have implemented them.
A statement in the report could explain Biden’s reasoning on his decision to block the criminal-code act: “Left-wing politicians and their backers recognize that rising crime rates and the lack of a general sense of safety that follows are a problem for them and their chances for reelection.”
Biden remains a firm supporter of D.C’s. right to self-government and even statehood, but would still support the resolution to disapprove the revised criminal-code act. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained that the president “believes every city should have the right to self-government. That hasn’t changed, but this is different. The way we see this is very different. The D.C. Council put changes forward over the mayor’s objection, and the president doesn’t support changes like lowering penalties for carjacking.”
Now it’s up to Congress to pass the resolution and gain President Biden’s signature to block D.C.’s revised criminal act, helping to set a new tone and start a trend to end soft-on-crime policies nationwide.
