The following statement is from Councilmember Charles Allen: 

“Today is an unprecedented violation of America’s core principle of self-governance and the latest painful reminder that until the nearly 700,000 residents of the District of Columbia have full statehood and autonomy, we will be seen and treated as a colony, even by those who purport to support us. The District of Columbia is perfectly capable of governing itself. We are not subjects, and we unequivocally reject anything less than full control of our own affairs. We reject the oppression and paternalism of federal interference. We reject the complete disregard for our legislative process and our values. The Revised Criminal Code Act is badly needed legislation, passed unanimously twice by our duly elected legislature. It is a comprehensive package of extensively debated and meticulously crafted legal reforms, developed over nearly two decades. But this is not about the bill or what it actually does; this is about manufacturing “tough on crime” rhetoric at our expense with the outcome of being stuck with an outdated criminal code that makes the District less safe and less fair. Defending those without power matters, and past pledges of support for DC Statehood couldn’t ring more hollow.”