[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MINORITY DAY, CONTINUATION OF H.R. 51:
``MAKING D.C. THE 51st STATE,
FROM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019''
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
DECEMBER 19, 2019
__________
Serial No. 116-80
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on: http://www.govinfo.gov
http://www.oversight.house.gov
http://www.docs.house.gov
___________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-582 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York, Chairmanwoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Jim Jordan, Ohio, Ranking Minority
Columbia Member
Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul A. Gosar, Arizona
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Jim Cooper, Tennessee Thomas Massie, Kentucky
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Mark Meadows, North Carolina
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Jody B. Hice, Georgia
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Harley Rouda, California James Comer, Kentucky
Katie Hill, California Michael Cloud, Texas
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Bob Gibbs, Ohio
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Peter Welch, Vermont Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Jackie Speier, California Chip Roy, Texas
Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Carol D. Miller, West Virginia
Mark DeSaulnier, California Mark E. Green, Tennessee
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Kelly Armstrong, North Dakota
Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands W. Gregory Steube, Florida
Ro Khanna, California Frank Keller, Pennsylvania
Jimmy Gomez, California
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
David Rapallo, Staff Director
Mark Stephenson, Director of Legislation
Bradley Truding, Legislative Director for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton
Joshua Zucker, Clerk
Christopher Hixon, Minority Chief of Staff
Contact Number: 202-225-5051
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on December 19, 2019................................ 1-2
MINORITY DAY, CONTINUATION OF H.R. 51:
``MAKING D.C. THE 51ST STATE,
FROM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019''
Thursday, December 19, 2019
House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Reform
Washington, D.C.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 12:10 p.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Carolyn B.
Maloney [chairwoman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Maloney, Norton, Raskin, Kelly,
Tlaib, Haaland, Porter, and Jordan.
Chairwoman Maloney. The committee will come to order.
The committee is now reconvening its hearing on H.R. 51,
the Washington, DC, Admission Act which recessed on September
19, 2019.
On that day, Ranking Member Jordan and other Republican
committee members sent a letter requesting six additional
witnesses for a subsequent minority day of hearing pursuant to
House rules. As they wrote in that letter--and I quote--we look
forward to your scheduling this hearing promptly.
On November 21, 2019, I became chairwoman of this
committee. At that time I was unsure whether Ranking Member
Jordan still wanted the minority day of hearings. However, four
days later, on November 25, 2019, you sent a letter to me
insisting that we go forward. So after informing his staff, I
sent letters on December 12, 2019, conveying invitations to
each of the six witnesses they sought for today's minority day
of hearings.
Obviously, they have declined to testify, and we have no
witnesses before us today. That is their right, since they are
not compelled to testify in response to the ranking member's
request. As a result, we will adjourn today's hearing.
However, before I do that, I would be willing to recognize
Ranking Member Jordan, if he has anything he would like to say.
Mr. Jordan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am disappointed we are here today. The Republicans
requested a minority day hearing on the D.C. Statehood issue
and specifically information about Mr. Evans and his conduct.
But Democrats refused to allow us to examine the serious
allegations of misconduct levied against D.C. council member
Jack Evans.
The committee cannot assess D.C.'s readiness to be a state
until we fully understand the nature and extent of Council
Member Evans' misconduct. This should not be a partisan issue.
Senior members of the Democrat majority have said that the
documents the committee has received in its investigation,
quote, paint a disturbing picture of Mr. Evans' ethical
transgressions.
Your choice to schedule the minority day hearing now,
between our markup this morning and the subcommittee hearing
this afternoon, and on the last day of scheduled business in
this congressional session, disappoints us. Your decision to
only minimally consult with Republican staff and to proceed
with the hearing today over our objection is a bad sign for the
rights of the minority for the rest of this Congress.
Because you didn't consult Republicans, your invitation
letters for the witnesses we requested did not properly explain
the purpose of their testimony. And so it was no surprise that
several witnesses replied that they would not attend. I think
five of the six said they would not attend and one just didn't
show up.
Quite simply, these witnesses have direct firsthand
information about Mr. Evans, about his misconduct, information
that the committee needs to do its proper oversight.
At the end of the day, we are most disappointed by the fact
that the Democrat majority apparently has no desire to join
Republicans in asking serious questions about WMATA and the
D.C. Government.
On December 10, we requested that Democrats schedule
transcribed interviews with several individuals involved in the
WMATA investigation into Mr. Evans. We received no response. On
September 16, we asked the Democrats to invite Evans to testify
at the hearing we had in September regarding H.R. 51. That
request was refused as well.
Instead, Democrats asked the WMATA Inspector General to
examine the matter. Unfortunately, the inspector general's
investigation should not be a substitute for congressional
oversight, especially when the issue is squarely within our
jurisdiction, as WMATA and D.C. are.
In fact, if Democrats would have consulted with the
Inspector General prior to scheduling this hearing, you would
know that he believes public testimony at this time could harm
his investigation. But you didn't consult with him, and you
scheduled the minority day hearing for today. It would impede
the investigation the Democrats asked him to do.
The committee cannot mark up H.R. 51 until the committee
seriously examines D.C. Council Member Evans' misconduct. We
owe the citizens of D.C. that much, and we owe that to our
constituents from Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Texas, who
currently subsidize some municipal operations of the district.
This is what we should have been focused on today. Instead,
the Democrats just want to play games with the minority rights,
and unfortunately, we are in the situation we are.
I yield back.
Chairwoman Maloney. I thank the gentleman for his remarks,
and this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:15 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[all]