Hawai‘i representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda voted with the Democratic majority against bills that would federalize control of Washington, D.C's police force.
In August, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum and later an Executive Order "to restore law and order in the District of Columbia," which mobilized the National Guard to reduce crime and ended after 30 days last week.
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass several bills supporting the administration’s police crackdown.
• The D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, limits the definition of “juvenile offender” in D.C. to only people 18 years old or younger. The bill requires the D.C. Attorney General to maintain a publicly accessible database on juvenile crime in D.C.
The bill also prohibits the D.C. Council from making any changes to criminal sentencing laws.
The House voted 240-179 in favor of the bill. 31 Democrats broke ranks to vote in support of the measure, but Case and Tokuda were not among them.
• H.R. 5140, an otherwise unnamed bill, allows children as young as 14 years old to be tried as an adult for crimes such as murder, first-degree sexual abuse, armed robbery or first-degree burglary.
Currently, 16-year-olds charged with such offenses may be tried as an adult. The D.C. Attorney General can also petition to try 15-year-olds as adults if it is believed to be in the interest of public welfare and “there are no reasonable prospects for rehabilitation of the child.”
The bill passed 225-203. Eight Democrats, none of whom were Case or Tokuda, voted in favor.
• The District of Columbia Policing Protection Act removes restrictions limiting how and when D.C. law enforcement officers can initiate vehicular pursuits.
Currently, D.C. police chases are only permitted when the officer believes the suspect was involved in a violent crime or poses a threat to another person that the pursuit is necessary to prevent. The bill instead only prohibits chases if the officer reasonably believes they would be futile, the pursuit would create an unacceptably high risk of harm to non-suspects, or if there are more effective means to apprehend the suspect.
This bill passed 245-182. Both Hawai‘i reps voted against the bill, although 29 Democrats voted for it.
• The District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act dissolves D.C.’s Judicial Nomination Commission, which nominates judges for D.C.’s Superior Court and Court of Appeals. Those nominees are recommended to the president, but must be confirmed by the Senate.
By dissolving the commission, the bill instead simply allows for the president to directly appoint those judges instead.
The bill passed 218-211. The vote was cleanly split on party lines, with Republicans voting unanimously in support, and Democrats unanimously in opposition.
The House also voted on a pair of veteran-related bills that were considerably less polarized.
• The Territorial Response and Access to Veterans’ Essential Lifecare Act, or TRAVEL Act, allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to assign physicians who are appointed in the Veterans Health Administration to act as traveling physicians to provide health care to veterans in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.
This passed 371-21, with universal Democratic support and only 21 Republicans in opposition.
• The Honoring Our Heroes Act establishes a two-year pilot program at the Department of Veterans Affairs wherein family members of veterans who died before Nov. 1, 1990, can request an appropriate headstone or burial marker from the department. Currently, the VA only furnishes this request for veterans who died on or after Nov. 1, 1990.
This passed unanimously 413-0.
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