H.R. 51 — Washington, D.C. Admission Act

This section declares the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth a state of the United States admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other states upon issuance of the proclamation required by section 103(a), subject to this Act. It requires the state's constitution to remain republican in form and not repugnant to the U.S. Constitution or the principles of the Declaration of Independence. It provides that invalidation of any provision of this section renders the entire Act and its amendments invalid.

This section directs the Mayor of the District of Columbia to issue, not more than 30 days after certification of this Act's enactment, a proclamation for primary and general elections for two separately designated Senators and one Representative from the new state, to be conducted and certified under District laws (with results also certified to the President); upon admission, those elected assume full congressional seats. This section increases permanent House membership to 436 (from 435), entitles the state to one Representative initially until the next apportionment, and amends the apportionment statute by requiring future decennial censuses to apportion 436 total Representatives (from the then-existing number), effective with the first census after admission.

This section requires the President, upon certification of the results of elections for officers specified in section 102(a), to issue a proclamation announcing those results not later than 90 days after receiving the certification pursuant to section 102(b)(2).

This section establishes the territory of the State as all land within the District of Columbia as of enactment, excluding the "Capital" area designated in section 112 as the seat of the U.S. government pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution. It directs the President, in consultation with the Chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, to conduct a metes and bounds survey of the Capital, as described in section 112(b), not later than 180 days after enactment.

This section establishes the boundaries of the Capital upon the admission of the State into the Union to consist of specified property—including the principal Federal monuments, the White House, the Capitol Building, the United States Supreme Court Building, and Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings adjacent to the Mall and the Capitol Building (as defined in 40 U.S.C. §8501(a))—beginning at the intersection of the southern right-of-way of F Street NE and the eastern right-of-way of 2nd Street NE and tracing a perimeter through multiple specified intersections and rights-of-way along streets including Maryland Avenue NE, Constitution Avenue NE, Independence Avenue SE/SW, and others.

This section establishes retention of title to, or jurisdiction over, real and personal property for administration and maintenance purposes upon the State's admission into the Union by (1) requiring the United States to retain title to, or jurisdiction over, all such property it holds the day before admission; and (2) requiring the State to retain title to, or jurisdiction over, all such property held by the District of Columbia the day before admission.

This section provides that, except as otherwise provided in the Act, laws of the District of Columbia in effect on the day before the date of the new state's admission into the Union apply in the Capital (i.e., the federal seat of government) in the same manner and to the same extent and are deemed laws of the United States applicable only in or to the Capital.

This section establishes the Capital National Guard by amending Title 32, U.S. Code, to (1) replace "District of Columbia" with "Capital" in section 101 definitions (paragraphs (4), (6), and (19)) and 25 other sections concerning National Guard organization, training, drug interdiction, enlistment, courts-martial, supplies, and property (i.e., sections 103, 104, 107, 109, 112, 304, 314, 315, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 501, 503, 504, 505, 509, 702, 703, 704, 708, 710, 711, 712, and 715); (2) explicitly replace certain references with "Capital National Guard"; (3) add a definition of "Capital" in section 101(20) as the area serving as the seat of the Government of the United States, as described in section 112 of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act; and (4) make conforming amendments to sections 901 (defining "Governor" for the Capital as its commanding general for homeland defense activities) and various provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code (i.e., sections 101, 771a, and 1076f).

This section terminates the legal status of the Capital (or any portion thereof) as a municipal corporation for municipal purposes, effective upon the date of admission of the State into the Union.

This section establishes transition rules upon admission of the District of Columbia as a state. It (1) extends the state's legislative power to all rightful subjects consistent with the U.S. Constitution; (2) deems members of District executive, legislative, and judicial offices to continue in equivalent state offices; (3) applies federal laws to the state as elsewhere; (4) preserves existing contracts involving the District or United States; (5) designates the state as successor to the District in interstate compacts; (6) allows federal representatives on District boards and commissions to continue serving; and (7) prohibits the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police, and U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division from enforcing state laws except as authorized by the state, while preserving their authority in the Capital.

This section designates the State as the legal successor to the District of Columbia in all matters and provides that all pending writs, actions, suits, judicial and administrative proceedings, civil or criminal liabilities, prosecutions, judgments, sentences, orders, decrees, appeals, causes of action, claims, demands, titles, and rights continue unaffected by the State's admission into the Union, except as otherwise provided in this Act or as modified by the State Constitution or laws of the State or the United States.

This section provides that no provision of the Act confers United States nationality, terminates nationality lawfully acquired, or restores nationality terminated or lost under any U.S. law or treaty.

This section reserves to the United States the power of exclusive legislation over tracts or parcels of land in the state that, on the day before the state's admission into the Union, are owned or controlled by the United States for defense or Coast Guard purposes—for so long as the United States retains ownership or control of such land for those purposes. It specifies that such lands remain part of the state, authorizes the state to exercise concurrent jurisdiction consistent with federal laws enacted under the reservation of authority, and permits the state to serve civil or criminal process on such lands for rights acquired, obligations incurred, or crimes committed in the state but outside those lands.

This section establishes a compact under which the State and its people disclaim all right and title to any real or personal property not granted or confirmed to the State by this Act if the property is held by or subject to disposition by the United States. The section further provides that nothing in the Act recognizes, denies, enlarges, impairs, or otherwise affects any claim against the United States—which shall be governed by applicable U.S. laws—and states that the Act neither constitutes nor shall be construed as a congressional finding, interpretation, or construction regarding the validity of any such claim.

This section modifies residency requirements for certain federal judicial and law enforcement officials by removing exceptions for the District of Columbia—changing references to the "Capital" in one instance—as follows: (1) requires each circuit judge to reside within 50 miles of the Capital (previously excepting those in the District of Columbia); (2) for district judges, eliminates the District of Columbia from exceptions (retaining the Southern District of New York); (3) requires each United States attorney to reside in the district for which appointed, except those for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (who may reside within 20 miles thereof); (4) permits the United States marshal for the Southern District of New York to reside within 20 miles of the district; and (5) eliminates the exception for clerks of District of Columbia courts. The amendments apply only to individuals appointed after the date of the admission of the State into the Union.

This section renames the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as the Capital Circuit (from District of Columbia) in 28 U.S.C. §41 and makes conforming amendments to related provisions (§§44(a), 48(a), 49, 2265(c)(2), and 2343). It renames the District of Columbia District Court as the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital district court (from District of Columbia) in §88—including its heading, composition, and table of sections entry—and makes conforming amendments to related provisions (§§133(a), 1346(e), 1355(b)(2), 1391(f)(4), 1402(a)(2), 1413, and 2467(c)(2)(B)). The section further makes conforming amendments to provisions on other courts, replacing references to the District of Columbia with the Capital or Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital as appropriate (§§152(a)(2), 173, 175, 456(b), 462(d), 798(a), 1608(a)(4), and 2410(b)). It adds to §451 a definition of "Capital" as the area serving as the seat of the U.S. government, as described in §112 of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act. (Thus, federal court references to the District of Columbia are updated to reflect its restructuring.)

This section amends Department of Justice provisions in title 28, United States Code, governing (1) the appointment of United States Trustees by replacing “the District of Columbia” with “the Capital and Washington, Douglass Commonwealth”; and (2) independent counsels by replacing “the District of Columbia” with “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital” (first reference in one provision) or “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth” (remaining references). The amendments take effect upon the admission of the State into the Union.

This section modifies pretrial services requirements under 18 U.S.C. 3152(a) to make the exclusion for the District of Columbia subject to new subsection (d) and adds subsection (d) establishing special rules for the judicial district of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Capital. (Pretrial services provide federal courts with defendant background information—such as criminal history, residence, and community ties—to inform pretrial release or detention decisions.) Under new subsection (d), upon the state's admission to the Union, the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth Pretrial Services Agency continues providing pretrial services in the same manner as the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency did the day before admission; this continuation ends upon the President's receipt of the state's certification under section 315(b)(4) of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act that state laws are in effect for providing pretrial services, after which the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts establishes pretrial services in the district under standard procedures.

This section requires each state to permit absent Capital voters—residents of the Capital qualified (or who would be qualified but for Capital residence) to vote in that state based on prior domicile therein—to register via absentee procedures and vote by absentee ballot in federal elections (general, special, primary, or runoff), and to accept otherwise valid registration applications received at least 30 days before the election. It expresses the sense of Congress that states should maximize such voters' access by (1) waiving registration requirements, (2) expediting ballot processing, and (3) mailing absentee ballots at the earliest opportunity. The Attorney General may enforce these requirements through civil actions for declaratory or injunctive relief; the exercise of these rights does not affect residence or domicile for federal, state, or local tax purposes; and the section takes effect upon the admission of the State into the Union, applying to elections for federal office thereafter.

This section repeals the establishment of the office of Delegate to the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia (i.e., the non-voting House member position created by the District of Columbia Delegate Act of 1970) and makes conforming amendments to the District of Columbia Elections Code of 1955 by striking all references to the Delegate, effective upon the admission of the District of Columbia as a state. (Thus, upon statehood, prior laws amended or repealed to create the Delegate position are restored, and the Delegate position is eliminated from D.C. elections and qualifications.)

This section strikes the provisions of 3 U.S.C. §21(2) including the District of Columbia within the definition of "State" and the parenthetical in §21(3) (redesignated as §21(2)) designating the DC Mayor as the "executive" for purposes of laws governing presidential electors. The amendments take effect upon the District of Columbia's admission as a state and apply to presidential elections on or after that date.

This section establishes expedited floor procedures in the House and Senate for a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to repeal the 23rd Amendment (i.e., eliminating the three electoral votes currently allocated to the District of Columbia in presidential elections). (1) In the House, upon introduction, the joint resolution is placed immediately on the calendar; a motion to proceed is in order not later than 30 legislative days after introduction (with all points of order waived, no debate, and no reconsideration); and, if agreed to, consideration is limited to 10 hours of equally divided debate, with the resolution considered as read, all points of order waived, no amendments in order, and no motion to reconsider passage. (2) In the Senate, upon introduction, the joint resolution is placed immediately on the calendar; a motion to proceed is in order not later than 30 legislative days after introduction (with all points of order waived, no debate, no postponement, no reconsideration, and, if agreed to, the resolution remains unfinished business); and consideration is limited to 30 hours of equally divided debate between party leaders, with all points of order waived, no amendments or motions to commit or postpone in order, and a vote on passage immediately after debate. (3) The procedures coordinate action between houses (e.g., the receiving house votes on the other house's version if received before passage, and the other house's version receives the same expedited treatment if one house does not act); and the provision is enacted as a rule of each house applicable only to this joint resolution, superseding other rules to the extent of any inconsistency.

This section continues entitlements to federal benefit payments under the District of Columbia Retirement Protection Act of 1997 (DCRPA) for individuals eligible as of the day before D.C. statehood, maintains federal obligations under the DCRPA (including to the D.C. Federal Pension Fund), and transfers District of Columbia obligations under the DCRPA to the new state—all in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same terms and conditions. (As background, the DCRPA transferred federal responsibility for accrued pension liabilities of certain D.C. government employees, including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and judges, and established the D.C. Federal Pension Fund to make those payments.)

This section preserves obligations under title 5, U.S. Code, for Federal civil service benefits (e.g., retirement, health) for individuals first employed by the District of Columbia government before October 1, 1987, upon the District's admission as a state. Federal obligations remain in effect with respect to such individuals and the state, and District obligations become state obligations with respect to such individuals and the Federal Government, in each case to the same extent and under the same terms.

This section continues federal obligations under the District of Columbia judges' retirement program (D.C. Official Code tit. 11, ch. 15, subch. III) for any individual's service accrued before D.C. statehood and, initially, for service after statehood. Federal obligations for post-statehood service terminate on the date the new state certifies to the President that it has enacted laws to appropriate and make available funds for state judges' retirements.

This section continues the application of title III of the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970—which establishes and funds the Public Defender Service (PDS) to provide legal representation for indigent persons in criminal, delinquency, and contempt cases—to the state and its public defender service after statehood admission, treating the federal government as the employing agency for employer contributions to certain federal benefits (e.g., under chapters of 5 U.S.C. subpart G, part III, title 5). It authorizes the state to rename the service upon statehood and requires continuation of those federal benefits for pre-statehood PDS employees, with the state assuming employer contribution responsibility beginning on the termination date. Subsection (a) terminates upon the state's certification to the President that it has enacted laws to fund an equivalent state public defender office.

This section requires the Attorney General, with concurrence of the District of Columbia or State, to assign assistant United States attorneys to the State—deemed on detail to a regular Department of Justice work assignment without State reimbursement for pay or expenses under 5 U.S.C. 3373—to conduct criminal prosecutions in the name of the State that, but for State admission into the Union, would have been conducted in the name of the United States by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia under D.C. Official Code § 23-101(c). The minimum number of such attorneys equals the number whose principal duties immediately before State admission were those prosecutions, with the assignment obligation terminating upon the State's written certification to the President that it has appointed State attorneys for those functions. This section further vests clemency authority (i.e., pardon, reprieve, commutation of sentence, or remission of fine or penalty) for offenses against the District of Columbia or State, effective upon State admission, exclusively in the person or persons designated by the State constitution and laws, regardless of whether prosecution was by the District of Columbia, State, or United States.

This section requires the United States Marshals Service to provide court-related services (e.g., security, prisoner transport) for the courts of the State in the same manner as it provided such services for District of Columbia courts before D.C. statehood, without the President appointing a U.S. marshal for those courts under existing law. The requirement terminates upon the State's written certification to the President that it has appointed its own personnel to provide the services.

This section continues the application of Chapter 1 of subtitle C of title XI of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997—which requires the Bureau of Prisons to designate and house felons convicted under D.C. laws in federal facilities—to individuals convicted of D.C. offenses both before and after D.C. statehood. The section terminates upon the state's written certification to the President that it has laws for housing such individuals in state correctional facilities.

This section directs the United States Parole Commission to continue exercising parole and reparole authority, and supervision of released offenders, for individuals under pre-statehood District of Columbia laws and to extend that authority to individuals under Washington, Douglass Commonwealth laws until the state certifies establishment of its own systems. It also preserves federal employee benefits (under specified chapters of title 5, U.S. Code) for United States Parole Commission personnel transferring to the state, with the state assuming employer contributions. Additionally, this section renames the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA) and the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency as the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for Washington, Douglass Commonwealth and the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth Pretrial Services Agency, respectively; directs the renamed CSOSA to continue pretrial services, probation/parole/supervised release supervision, and sex offender registration for pre-statehood D.C. cases and to extend those functions to state cases; and preserves federal employee benefits for transferring CSOSA personnel. (As background, the United States Parole Commission assumed D.C. parole functions under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 due to D.C. governance challenges, while CSOSA provides community supervision services.)

This section continues the application of title 11, District of Columbia Official Code (governing D.C. courts and court system), to the courts of the new State upon admission to the Union, with exceptions including (1) federal responsibility for employer contributions to certain federal benefits (under D.C. Code §§11-1726(b)(2) and (c)(2)) for state court employees treated as federal employees; (2) state selection of judges for vacancies and authority to rename courts and offices effective on admission date; and (3) preservation of sitting judges' service and chapter 15 requirements (except §11-1501(a)) for judicial appointments and tenure. The section further (1) permanently continues federal benefits treatment under 5 U.S.C. subpart G, part III, title III (e.g., retirement, health, life insurance) for pre-admission court employees, with the state assuming employer contributions upon termination under subsection (e); (2) continues federal funding under section 11241 of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 for state courts; and (3) requires deposit of state court receipts into the U.S. Treasury, except those for the Crime Victims Compensation Fund (D.C. Code §4-515). As background, the Revitalization Act shifted D.C. court funding to the federal government via the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, relieving D.C.'s local budget. (Thus, federal funding and operations continue until the state certifies laws ensuring its own court funding, at which point this section terminates except for judge selection/renaming authority and ongoing federal benefits treatment.)

This section continues the application of the District of Columbia College Access Act of 1999—which provides federal tuition assistance to District residents for attendance at public and private institutions of higher education, including out-of-state public colleges—to the State and its designated public institution of higher education successor to the University of the District of Columbia after the State's admission to the Union. The section terminates upon the State's written certification to the President that it has enacted substantially similar tuition assistance laws, except with respect to such successor institution.

This section continues the application of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act—a federally funded program authorizing scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools or public schools or charter schools other than their assigned public school, along with supplemental funding for D.C. public schools and public charter schools—to the new state upon its admission to the Union, in the same manner and to the same extent as the Act applied to the District of Columbia immediately prior to statehood. The section terminates upon the state's written certification to the President that it has enacted laws (1) providing tuition assistance substantially similar to that under the Act and (2) providing supplemental funds to the state's public schools and public charter schools in amounts equal to those provided under the Act in the most recent fiscal year for such schools in the state or the District of Columbia.

This section provides a newly admitted state with the District of Columbia's Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid (i.e., the federal share of program expenditures)—notwithstanding the standard FMAP formula—from the state's date of admission through September 30 of the fiscal year in which the state certifies to the President that its estimated revenues will suffice to cover any revenue reduction resulting from the provision's termination during each of the subsequent five fiscal years. (Thus, the state receives a temporary enhanced federal matching rate, typically 70% for the District of Columbia, before transitioning to its formula-determined FMAP.)

This section provides for the continuing application of chapters 87 (National Capital Planning Commission), 89 (Commemorative Works), and 91 (Commission of Fine Arts) of title 40, United States Code, following the admission of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth as a state, limits their geographic scope to the Capital (i.e., the seat of the Government of the United States, as described in section 112 of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act) and its environs (i.e., specified National Park Service and General Services Administration lands outside that state), revises related definitions and membership requirements, and makes conforming terminology changes throughout, effective on the date of state admission. **(a) National Capital Planning Commission.** The section applies chapter 87 to the Capital as it previously applied to the District of Columbia and to the new state as it previously applied to Maryland and Virginia; revises the commission's citizen membership to four members appointed by the President (previously unspecified), with one each required to reside in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, Douglass Commonwealth; and updates definitions of "environs" (to territory surrounding the National Capital, from surrounding the District of Columbia), "National Capital" (to the Capital plus federal territory in the environs), and "National Capital Region" (to include the Capital and Washington, Douglass Commonwealth). **(b) Commission of Fine Arts.** The section limits the commission's authority under chapter 91 to the Capital (from the District of Columbia) and adds a definition of "Capital." **(c) Commemorative Works.** The section—which governs congressional authorization for private and public sponsors to establish monuments, memorials, and similar structures in the national capital area—(1) limits chapter 89's application to the Capital and its environs; (2) redefines "Capital and its environs" to mean the Capital plus specified lands administered by the National Park Service and General Services Administration outside Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (from "District of Columbia and its environs," defined solely via those lands); (3) updates temporary site designations to the Capital and its environs (from District of Columbia); and (4) replaces all references to "District of Columbia and its environs" with "Capital and its environs" and related phrasing to reference the Capital.

This section amends chapter 95 of title 40, United States Code—which authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to manage the Washington Aqueduct and supply water in the national capital region—by adding a new section. Effective upon admission of the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth to the Union, the new section deems any reference in the chapter to the District of Columbia to instead refer to the Capital (i.e., the area serving as the seat of government, as described in section 112 of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act) or such state, as applicable.

This section deems the location of any person in the Capital or Washington, Douglass Commonwealth on the day after the date of the state's admission into the Union to satisfy any preexisting legal requirement to be located in the District of Columbia, including under 4 U.S.C. §72 (requiring offices attached to the seat of government to be exercised in the District of Columbia) and title 36, U.S. Code (relating to patriotic and national organizations).