Ranking Member Hoyer Statement at the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and Oversight Hearing for the District of Columbia

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's budget and oversight hearing on the District of Columbia:

- As Prepared For Delivery -

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson, Chief Financial Officer Lee for joining us today to discuss their great city. 

By all accounts, the District of Columbia is in good shape.

The city’s finances are in good order.

Its economy continues to recover and grow as workers have gradually returned to the office. 

Crime is decreasing.

Its population is increasing. 

We owe these encouraging trends in no small part to the guidance of its leaders, especially those before us today.

Their accomplishments are even more impressive in light of the efforts of some in the Congress to interfere with D.C. home rule.

This has been a historic Congress in terms of meddling in D.C.’s affairs. 

Members have tried to insert themselves into the governance of this great city, wading into local issues that ought to stay local – from concealed carry restrictions on WMATA to right turn on red and everything in between.

Washingtonians know how to govern themselves.

They don’t need members from thousands of miles away to weigh in on the specifics of how they run their city or to overrule what the residents of D.C. want for themselves. 

Protecting home rule is absolutely vital to D.C.’s continued success.

And, as a Maryland member, I can tell you just how crucial D.C.’s success is to this region’s success.

I believe that the best way to ensure D.C.’s vitality is to grant it statehood. 

That D.C.’s 700,000 citizens lack proper representation in congress runs against everything our Constitution stands for. 

Our framers did not intend for American citizens to be without representation.

Considering that D.C. would be the state with the highest proportion of black residents in the nation, the lack of statehood also has disturbing implications for voting rights and equality in America. 

I am eager to hear from our witnesses about the progress their city has made in spite of these obstacles.

Thank you again for joining us today.

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