[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 51 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 51
To provide for the admission of the State of New Columbia into the
Union.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 1993
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the District of Columbia
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the admission of the State of New Columbia into the
Union.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``New Columbia Admission Act''.
SEC. 2. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION.
Subject to the provisions of this Act, and upon issuance of the
proclamation required by section 7(d)(1) of this Act, the State of New
Columbia (hereinafter referred to as ``the State'') is declared to be a
State of the United States of America, is declared admitted into the
Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects
whatever, and the constitution adopted by the Council of the District
of Columbia in the Constitution for the State of New Columbia Approval
Act of 1987 (D.C. Law 7-8), subject to ratification by a majority of
the registered qualified electors of the District of Columbia, is found
to be republican in form and in conformity with the Constitution of the
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence and
is accepted, ratified, and confirmed.
SEC. 3. CONSTITUTION.
The constitution of the State of New Columbia shall always be
republican in form and shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of
the United States and the principles of the Declaration of
Independence.
SEC. 4. TERRITORIES AND BOUNDARIES.
(a) Subject to the provisions of this section, the State of New
Columbia shall consist of all of the territory, together with the
territorial waters, of the District of Columbia. The State of New
Columbia shall not include the National Capital Service Area of the
District of Columbia, which is described in subsection (b). As of the
date of admission of New Columbia into the Union, the District of
Columbia shall consist of the National Capital Service Area.
(b) The National Capital Service Area, subject to the provisions of
section 16, is comprised of the principal Federal monuments, the White
House, the Capitol Building, the United States Supreme Court Building,
and the Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings
located adjacent to the Mall and the Capitol Building.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of
section 16, the boundaries of the State of New Columbia shall include
the District Building.
SEC. 5. COMPACT WITH UNITED STATES; CLAIMS TO FEDERAL LANDS AND
PROPERTY.
(a) As a compact with the United States, the State and its people
disclaim all right and title to any lands or other property not granted
or confirmed to the State or its political subdivisions by or under the
authority of this Act, the right or title to which is held by the
United States or subject to disposition by the United States.
(b)(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall recognize, deny,
enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any claim against the United
States, and any such claim shall be governed by applicable laws of the
United States.
(2) Nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed as a
finding, interpretation, or construction by the Congress that any
applicable law authorizes, establishes, recognizes, or confirms the
validity or invalidity of any such claim, and the determination of the
applicability or effect of any law to any such claim shall be
unaffected by anything in this Act.
(c) No taxes shall be imposed by the State upon any lands or other
property now owned or hereafter acquired by the United States, except
to the extent as Congress may permit.
(d)(1) Upon the admission of the State of New Columbia into the
Union, the annual Federal payment authorized to be appropriated to the
District of Columbia shall be authorized to be appropriated to the
State of New Columbia. Nothing in this Act is intended to alter the
basis for the Federal payment to the District of Columbia or the State
of New Columbia.
(2) Not later than 7 months before the beginning of each fiscal
year, the Governor shall submit a report to Congress on the effects of
the presence of the seat of the Federal Government within or adjacent
to the State on the revenues and expenditures of the State, and shall
include in the report information relating to--
(A) services rendered to the Federal Government and
services rendered because of the State's proximity to the seat
of the Federal Government, and the cost to the State of
providing such services;
(B) potential revenues lost because of the presence of the
Federal Government within or adjacent to the State, including
Federally-imposed height or other restrictions on buildings
located within the State and revenues not obtainable because of
a lack of taxable property and business income within the
State; and
(C) potential revenues gained because of the presence of
the Federal Government within or adjacent to the State.
(3) At the time the Governor submits the report described in
paragraph (2) to Congress, the Governor shall submit copies of the
report to the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the
Office of Management and Budget, who shall submit reports to Congress
analyzing the Governor's report not later than 30 days after receiving
copies of the report.
(e) The State may not change any provision of its Constitution
concerning height limitations on buildings without the consent of
Congress.
(f) Nothing in this Act or the Constitution or laws of the State
may be construed to permit the State to refuse to allow an individual
to serve as a qualified registered elector of the State solely because
the individual resides in the National Capital Service Area.
SEC. 6. STATE TITLE TO LANDS AND PROPERTY.
(a) The State of New Columbia and its political subdivisions shall
have and retain title or jurisdiction for purposes of administration
and maintenance to all property, real and personal, with respect to
which title or jurisdiction for purposes of administration and
maintenance is held by the territory of the District of Columbia as of
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) All laws of the United States reserving to the United States
the free use or enjoyment of property which vests in or is conveyed to
the State of New Columbia or its political subdivisions pursuant to
this section or reserving the right to alter, amend, or repeal laws
relating thereto shall cease to be effective upon the admission of the
State of New Columbia into the Union.
SEC. 7. ELECTIONS.
(a)(1) Not more than sixty days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the President of the United States shall certify such enactment to
the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Not more than thirty days after
such certification the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall issue a
proclamation for the elections, subject to the provisions of this Act,
for officers of all State elective offices provided for by the
constitution of the proposed State of New Columbia and for two Senators
and one Representative in Congress.
(2) In the first election of Senators from the State (pursuant to
paragraph (1)) the two senatorial offices shall be separately
identified and designated, and no person may be a candidate for both
offices. No such identification or designation of either of the two
senatorial offices shall refer to or be taken to refer to the terms of
such offices, or in any way impair the privilege of the Senate to
determine the class to which each of the Senators elected shall be
assigned.
(b) The proclamation of the Mayor of the District of Columbia
required by subsection (a) shall provide for the holding of a primary
election and a general election and at such elections the officers
required to be elected as provided in subsection (a) shall be chosen by
the people. Such elections shall be held, and the qualifications of
voters shall be, as prescribed by the constitution of the proposed
State of New Columbia for the election of members of the proposed State
legislature. Election returns shall be made and certified in such
manner as the constitution of the proposed State of New Columbia may
prescribe. The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall certify the
results of such elections to the President of the United States.
(c)(1) At an election designated by proclamation of the Mayor of
the District of Columbia, which may be the primary or the general
election held pursuant to subsection (b), a territorial general
election, or a special election, there shall be submitted to the
electors qualified to vote in such election, for adoption or rejection,
the following propositions:
(A) New Columbia shall immediately be admitted into the
Union as a State.
(B) The boundaries of the State of New Columbia shall be as
prescribed in the New Columbia Admission Act and all claims of
the State to any areas of land or sea outside the boundaries so
prescribed are hereby irrevocably relinquished to the United
States.
(C) All provisions of the New Columbia Admission Act,
including provisions reserving rights or powers to the United
States and provisions prescribing the terms or conditions of
the grants of lands or other property made to the State of New
Columbia, are consented to fully by the State and its people.
(2) In the event the propositions under paragraph (1) are adopted
in such election by a majority of the legal votes cast on such
submission, the proposed constitution of the proposed State of New
Columbia, adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia in the
Constitution for the State of New Columbia Approval Act of 1987 (D.C.
Law 7-8), shall be deemed amended accordingly.
(3) In the event any one of the propositions under paragraph (1) is
not adopted at such election by a majority of the legal votes cast on
such submission, the provisions of this Act shall cease to be
effective.
(4) The Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and
directed to take such action as may be necessary or appropriate to
ensure the submission of such propositions to the people. The return of
the votes cast on such propositions shall be made by the election
officers directly to the Board of Elections of the District of
Columbia, which shall certify the results of the submission to the
Mayor. The Mayor shall certify the results of such submission to the
President of the United States.
(d)(1) If the President finds that the propositions set forth in
subsection (c)(1) have been duly adopted by the people of New Columbia,
the President, upon certification of the returns of the election of the
officers required to be elected as provided in subsection (a), shall
issue a proclamation announcing the results of such election as so
ascertained. Upon the issuance of such proclamation by the President,
the State of New Columbia shall be deemed admitted into the Union as
provided in section 2 of this Act.
(2) Until the State of New Columbia is admitted into the Union,
individuals holding legislative, executive, and judicial offices of the
District of Columbia, including the Delegate in Congress from the
District of Columbia, shall continue to discharge the duties of their
respective offices. Upon the issuance of such proclamation by the
President of the United States and the admission of the State of New
Columbia into the Union, the officers elected at such election, and
qualified under the provisions of the constitution and laws of such
State, shall proceed to exercise all the functions pertaining to their
offices in, under, or by authority of the government of such State, and
offices not required to be elected at such initial election shall be
selected or continued in office as provided by the constitution and
laws of such State. The Governor of such State shall certify the
election of the Senators and Representative in the manner required by
law, and the Senators and Representative shall be entitled to be
admitted to seats in Congress and to all the rights and privileges of
Senators and Representatives of other States in the Congress of the
United States.
SEC. 8. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERSHIP.
The State of New Columbia upon its admission into the Union shall
be entitled to one Representative until the taking effect of the next
reapportionment, and such Representative shall be in addition to the
membership of the House of Representatives as now prescribed by law,
except that such temporary increase in the membership shall not operate
to either increase or decrease the permanent membership of the House of
Representatives or affect the basis of apportionment for the Congress.
SEC. 9. LAWS IN EFFECT.
Upon admission of the State of New Columbia into the Union, all of
the territorial laws then in force in the Territory of the District of
Columbia shall be and continue in force and effect throughout the
State, except as modified or changed by this Act, or by the
Constitution of the State, or as thereafter modified or changed by the
legislature of the State. All of the laws of the United States shall
have the same force and effect within the State as elsewhere in the
United States.
SEC. 10. CONTINUATION OF SUITS.
(a) No writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding pending in
any court of the District of Columbia or in the United States District
Court for the District of Columbia shall abate by reason of the
admission of the State of New Columbia into the Union, but shall be
transferred and shall proceed within such appropriate State courts as
shall be established under the constitution of the State, or shall
continue in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia, as the nature of the case may require. And no writ, action,
indictment, cause, or proceeding shall abate by reason of any change in
the courts, but shall proceed within the State or United States courts
according to the laws thereof, respectively. The appropriate State
courts shall be the successors of the courts of the District of
Columbia as to all cases arising within the limits embraced within the
jurisdiction of such courts, respectively, with full power to proceed
with such cases, and award mesne or final process therein, and all
files, records, indictments, and proceedings relating to any such writ,
action, indictment, cause, or proceeding shall be transferred to such
appropriate State courts and shall be proceeded with therein in due
course of law.
(b) All civil causes of action and all criminal offenses which
shall have arisen or been committed prior to the admission of the
State, but as to which no writ, action, indictment, or proceeding shall
be pending at the date of such admission, shall be subject to
prosecution in the appropriate State courts or in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia in like manner, to the same
extent, and with like right of appellate review, as if such State had
been created and such State courts had been established prior to the
accrual of such causes of action or the commission of such offenses.
The admission of the State shall effect no change in the substantive or
criminal law governing causes of action and criminal offenses which
shall have arisen or been committed, and any such criminal offenses as
shall have been committed against the laws of the District of Columbia
shall be tried and punished by the appropriate courts of the State, and
any such criminal offenses as shall have been committed against the
laws of the United States shall be tried and punished in the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia.
SEC. 11. APPEALS.
Parties shall have the same rights of appeal from and appellate
review of final decisions of the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in
any case finally decided prior to the admission of the State of New
Columbia into the Union, whether or not an appeal therefrom shall have
been perfected prior to such admission. The United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court of
the United States shall have the same jurisdiction in such cases as by
law provided prior to the admission of the State into the Union. Any
mandate issued subsequent to the admission of the State shall be to the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia or a court of
the State, as appropriate. Parties shall have the same rights of appeal
from and appellate review of all orders, judgments, and decrees of the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia and of the
highest court of the State of New Columbia, as successor to the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in any case pending at the time
of admission of the State into the Union, and the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court
of the United States shall have the same jurisdiction therein, as by
law provided in any case arising subsequent to the admission of the
State into the Union.
SEC. 12. JUDICIAL AND CRIMINAL PROVISIONS.
Effective upon the admission of New Columbia into the Union--
(1) Section 41 of title 28, United States Code is amended
in the second column by inserting ``, New Columbia'' after
``District of Columbia''.
(2) The first paragraph of section 88 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``The District of Columbia and the State of New Columbia comprise
one judicial district.''.
SEC. 13. MILITARY LANDS.
(a) Subject to subsection (b) and notwithstanding the admission of
the State of New Columbia into the Union, authority is reserved in the
United States for the exercise by the Congress of the United States of
the power of exclusive legislation, as provided by article I, section
8, clause 17, of the Constitution of the United States, in all cases
whatsoever over such tracts or parcels of land located within the State
of New Columbia that, immediately prior to the admission of the State,
are controlled or owned by the United States and held for defense or
Coast Guard purposes.
(b)(1) The State of New Columbia shall always have the right to
serve civil or criminal process within such tracts or parcels of land
in suits or prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired,
obligations incurred, or crimes committed within the State but outside
of such tracts or parcels of land.
(2) The reservation of authority in the United States for the
exercise by the Congress of the United States of the power of exclusive
legislation over such lands shall not operate to prevent such lands
from being a part of the State of New Columbia, or to prevent the State
from exercising over or upon such lands, concurrently with the United
States, any jurisdiction which it would have in the absence of such
reservation of authority and which is consistent with the laws
hereafter enacted by the Congress pursuant to such reservation of
authority.
(3) The power of exclusive legislation shall vest and remain in the
United States only so long as the particular tract or parcel of land
involved is controlled or owned by the United States and used for
defense or Coast Guard purposes, except that the United States shall
continue to have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over such military
installations as have been or may be determined to be critical areas as
delineated by the President of the United States or the Secretary of
Defense.
SEC. 14. UNITED STATES NATIONALITY.
No provision of this Act shall operate to confer United States
nationality, to terminate nationality lawfully acquired, or to restore
nationality terminated or lost under any law of the United States or
under any treaty to which the United States is or was a party.
SEC. 15. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.
No law or regulation which is in force on the effective date of
this Act shall be deemed amended or repealed by this Act except to the
extent specifically provided herein or to the extent that such law or
regulation is inconsistent with this Act.
SEC. 16. NATIONAL CAPITAL SERVICE AREA.
(a) The National Capital Service Area referred to in section 4 is
more particularly described as follows:
Beginning at the point on the present Virginia-District of
Columbia boundary due west of the northernmost point of
Theodore Roosevelt Island and running due east of the eastern
shore of the Potomac River;
thence generally south along the shore at the mean high
water mark to the northwest corner of the Kennedy Center;
thence east along the north side of the Kennedy Center to a
point where it reaches the E Street Expressway;
thence east on the expressway to E Street Northwest and
thence east on E Street Northwest to Eighteenth Street
Northwest;
thence south on Eighteenth Street Northwest to Constitution
Avenue Northwest;
thence east on Constitution Avenue to Seventeenth Street
Northwest;
thence north on Seventeenth Street Northwest to
Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest;
thence east on Pennsylvania Avenue to Jackson Place
Northwest;
thence north on Jackson Place to H Street Northwest;
thence east on H Street Northwest to Madison Place
Northwest;
thence south on Madison Place Northwest to Pennsylvania
Avenue Northwest;
thence east on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest to Fifteenth
Street Northwest;
thence south on Fifteenth Street Northwest to Pennsylvania
Avenue Northwest;
thence southeast on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest to John
Marshall Place Northwest;
thence north on John Marshall Place Northwest to C Street
Northwest;
thence east on C Street Northwest to Third Street
Northwest;
thence north on Third Street Northwest to D Street
Northwest;
thence east on D Street Northwest to Second Street
Northwest;
thence south on Second Street Northwest to the intersection
of Constitution Avenue Northwest and Louisiana Avenue
Northwest;
thence northeast on Louisiana Avenue Northwest to North
Capitol Street;
thence north on North Capitol Street to Massachusetts
Avenue Northwest;
thence southeast on Massachusetts Avenue Northwest so as to
encompass Union Square;
thence following Union Square to F Street Northeast;
thence east on F Street Northeast to Second Street
Northeast;
thence south on Second Street Northeast to D Street
Northeast;
thence west on D Street Northeast to First Street
Northeast;
thence south on First Street Northeast to Maryland Avenue
Northeast;
thence generally north and east on Maryland Avenue to
Second Street Northeast;
thence south on Second Street Northeast to C Street
Southeast;
thence west on C Street Southeast to New Jersey Avenue
Southeast;
thence south on New Jersey Avenue Southeast to D Street
Southeast;
thence west on D Street Southeast to Washington Avenue
Southwest;
thence southeast on Washington Avenue Southwest to E Street
Southeast;
thence west on E Street Southeast to the intersection of
Washington Avenue Southwest and South Capitol Street;
thence northwest on Washington Avenue Southwest to Second
Street Southwest;
thence south on Second Street Southwest to Virginia Avenue
Southwest;
thence generally west on Virginia Avenue to Third Street
Southwest;
thence north on Third Street Southwest to C Street
Southwest;
thence west on C Street Southwest to Sixth Street
Southwest;
thence north on Sixth Street Southwest to Independence
Avenue;
thence west on Independence Avenue to Twelfth Street
Southwest;
thence south on Twelfth Street Southwest to D Street
Southwest;
thence west on D Street Southwest to Fourteenth Street
Southwest;
thence south on Fourteenth Street Southwest to the middle
of the Washington Channel;
thence generally south and east along the midchannel of the
Washington Channel to a point due west of the northern boundary
line of Fort Lesley McNair;
thence due east to the side of the Washington Channel;
thence following generally south and east along the side of
the Washington Channel at the mean high water mark, to the
point of confluence with the Anacostia River, and along the
northern shore at the mean high water mark to the northernmost
point of the Eleventh Street Bridge;
thence generally south and east along the northern side of
the Eleventh Street Bridge to the eastern shore of the
Anacostia River;
thence generally south and west along such shore at the
mean high water mark to the point of confluence of the
Anacostia and Potomac Rivers;
thence generally south along the eastern shore at the mean
high water mark of the Potomac River to the point where it
meets the present southeastern boundary line of the District of
Columbia;
thence south and west along such southeastern boundary line
to the point where it meets the present Virginia-District of
Columbia boundary; and
thence generally north and west up the Potomac River along
the Virginia-District of Columbia boundary to the point of
beginning.
(b) Where the area in subsection (a) is bounded by any street, such
street, and any sidewalk thereof, shall be included within such area.
(c)(1) Any Federal real property affronting or abutting, as of the
date of the enactment of this Act, the area described in subsection (a)
shall be deemed to be within such area.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) Federal real property
affronting or abutting such area described in subsection (a) shall--
(A) be deemed to include, but not limited to, Fort Lesley
McNair, the Washington Navy Yard, the Anacostia Naval Annex,
the United States Naval Station, Bolling Air Force Base, and
the Naval Research Laboratory; and
(B) not be construed to include any area situated outside
of the District of Columbia boundary as it existed immediately
prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, nor be
construed to include any portion of the Anacostia Park situated
east of the northern side of the Eleventh Street Bridge, or any
portion of the Rock Creek Park.
SEC. 17. STATEHOOD TRANSITION COMMISSION.
(a) There is established a Statehood Transition Commission.
(b) The Commission shall be composed of thirteen members appointed
as follows:
(1) three shall be appointed by the President;
(2) two shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House;
(3) two shall be appointed by the President of the Senate;
(4) three shall be appointed by the Mayor of the District
of Columbia; and
(5) three shall be appointed by the Council of the District
of Columbia.
(c) The Commission shall advise the President, the Congress, the
Mayor, the Council, and the Governor and House of Delegates for the
State of New Columbia, as appropriate, concerning necessary procedures
to effect an orderly transition to statehood for the District of
Columbia and other matters relating to the assumption of the property,
functions, and activities of the District of Columbia by the State of
New Columbia during the first 2 years of the existence of the State of
New Columbia. The Commission shall submit such reports as the
Commission considers appropriate or as may be requested.
(d) The Commission shall cease to exist 2 years after the date of
the admission into the Union of the State of New Columbia.
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