Ranking Member Morelle Opening Remarks at Safety on Capitol Hill Hearing

Hearing

“Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for convening us.

Let me begin first of all by offering congratulations, I know we have some new staff here, a new Parliamentarian, Assistant Parliamentarian and Deputy Clerk, so I want to congratulate these appointees and wish them the best as they take on these new responsibilities.

I certainly want to welcome our panel. First of all, always good to see Chief Manger, thank you for your long service.

Chairman Pemberton, and Mr. Mangual, we’re grateful for your service and for being here today.

I don’t think there is a responsibility I take more seriously as the Ranking Member of this committee than the safety of staff, visitors, and certainly Members on or around the Capitol campus.

And I’ve said this before, I’ll say it in the future, law enforcement has our back – it’s critical that we have your back as well.

That includes the United States Capitol Police, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, as well as federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and ATF.

It's no secret that in 2020, during the pandemic, homicide and violent crime increased across the nation.

Thankfully, while there is so much more that needs to be done, in 2023, violent crime and homicide rates dropped significantly, and last year saw one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the United States in more than half a century. Those aren’t my observations those are the statistics.

Unfortunately, the District of Columbia has been the exception to the rule, and the Congressional community has not been immune to this uptick in violence here.

Members – as the Chair has indicated – have been assaulted in elevators and carjacked, and staff have been brutally stabbed and robbed at gunpoint.

So, I am pleased that the District of Columbia has taken some steps to address these issues. As I understand earlier this month, the DC Council passed the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act, which contains about 100 provisions increasing gun violence penalties, expanding the definition of carjacking, addressing organized retail theft, and more.

I must point out, however, that this is at least the fourth hearing convened by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle on crime in the nation’s capital this Congress.

And despite all the talk of armed robberies and shootings, I have yet to hear my colleagues meaningfully address the issue of common-sense gun safety measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals in the District of Columbia.

On the contrary, the fiscal year 2024 Financial Services and General Government funding bill includes a policy rider, advanced by my Republican colleagues, that would permit concealed carry of firearms in the District of Columbia.

It’s astonishing that you would do that at a time when we’re concerned about violent crime.

Guns – and let’s make this clear – guns make violent crime more violent and more deadly.

And I struggle to reconcile my colleagues’ concerns about violent crime with their complete disregard of the key driver of those crimes.

There are no commercial gun stores in the District of Columbia, so the guns used here are from out of state. These guns are often acquired illegally through either straw purchasers or unlicensed sellers.

Yet every single Republican on this committee who was here in last Congress voted against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which created the first federal criminal statutes for firearms trafficking and straw purchasing.

Just recently, Capitol Police officers arrested a man just off Capitol grounds carrying a rifle he brought to the District of Columbia from the state of Georgia.

Unless we take common-sense steps supported by a majority of the American people on the question of illegal firearms, we’ll never fully address or solve the violent crime issue here in Washington.

That’s why I’ve introduced the State Firearms Dealer Licensing Enhancement Act and will soon reintroduce the Gun Theft Prevention Act.

These bills would crack down on gun trafficking by ensuring oversight and licensing requirements for firearms dealers and by granting ATF the tools to hold repeat offenders accountable.

We also need to support the efforts of federal law enforcement partners like the FBI and ATF, who in the last few months have redoubled their efforts to track down and prosecute violent criminals in Washington, D.C.

What we should NOT be doing at this time is to call for the defunding of the FBI and ATF.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the role the federal government plays in the local criminal justice system here in the District of Columbia.

For example, when the Metropolitan Police reports to the city government, much of the rest of the criminal justice infrastructure is federal, which creates serious coordination issues.

In a tragic example of these issues, according to the Chairman of the DC Council, the individual who stabbed Senator Rand Paul’s staffer was released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons with no notice to the District of Columbia.

He was supposed to go into custody or supervision of another Federal agency, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, which apparently did not happen. So, the coordination is an issue we must address.

I want to thank again our witnesses. I’m looking forward to your testimony and to the questions and I look forward to the proceeding, so with that Mr. Chairman I yield back.”

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