District of Columbia-Maryland Reunion Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1361 To reduce the size of the seat of the Government of the United States to the area composed of the principal Federal monuments, the White House, the United States Capitol, the United States Supreme Court Building, and the Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office build- ings located adjacent to the Mall and the United States Capitol, to provide for the retrocession of the remaining area of the District of Columbia to the State of Maryland, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. MARSHALL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To reduce the size of the seat of the Government of the United States to the area composed of the principal Federal monuments, the White House, the United States Capitol, the United States Supreme Court Building, and the Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings located adjacent to the Mall and the United States Capitol, to provide for the retrocession of the remaining area of the District of Columbia to the State of Maryland, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1361 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia- 2 Maryland Reunion Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Article I, section 2, clause 1 of the Con- 6 stitution of the United States states that the ‘‘House 7 of Representatives shall be composed of Members 8 chosen every second Year by the People of the sev- 9 eral States’’. 10 (2) The Founding Fathers did not consider the 11 proposed district that would become Washington, 12 DC, a State under the Constitution, as evidenced 13 when Alexander Hamilton offered an amendment to 14 the Constitution during the New York ratification to 15 provide full congressional representation to Wash- 16 ington, DC, which was rejected by the convention on 17 July 22, 1788. 18 (3) The Supreme Court of the United States 19 held in Hepburn v. Ellzey, 6 U.S. 445 (1805), in an 20 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Marshall, 21 that the term ‘‘states’’ in article I, section 2, clause 22 1 of the Constitution does not include Washington, 23 DC, for representation purposes. 24 (4) Seven Supreme Court Justices affirmed 25 Chief Justice Marshall’s reasoning from Hepburn v. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1361 IS Ellzey in National Mutual Insurance Co. v. Tide- 1 water Transfer Co., 337 U.S. 582 (1949). 2 (5) In 1978, a Congress controlled by Demo- 3 crats attempted to amend the Constitution to pro- 4 vide Washington, DC, with full congressional rep- 5 resentation. The Committee on the Judiciary of the 6 House of Representatives reported the joint resolu- 7 tion and stated that granting congressional rep- 8 resentation to the District of Columbia as it is pres- 9 ently constituted would require a constitutional 10 amendment, because ‘‘statutory action alone will not 11 suffice’’. 12 (6) Amending the Constitution requires two- 13 thirds approval by each house of Congress and rati- 14 fication by three-fourths of the States. In 1978, two- 15 thirds of both the House of Representatives and the 16 Senate voted for the constitutional amendment to 17 provide Washington, DC, with full congressional rep- 18 resentation, but the amendment was not ratified by 19 three-fourths of the States. 20 (7) An alternative to a potentially lengthy and 21 difficult constitutional amendment process is ceding 22 Washington, DC, back to Maryland, just as an area 23 of 31 square miles that was originally ceded by Vir- 24 ginia was returned to that State by Federal legisla- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1361 IS tion in 1847, thereby ensuring that the portion of 1 Washington, DC, in Virginia would have representa- 2 tion in the Senate and the House of Representatives. 3 (8) In 1847, there was a desire to allow the 4 District of Columbia land on the west side of the Po- 5 tomac River that was not being used by the Federal 6 Government to have its own proper representation in 7 Congress. 8 (9) Obtaining the desired representation for 9 that portion of Washington, DC, would have re- 10 quired a constitutional amendment unless the land 11 were given back to Virginia. 12 (10) Instead of trying to pass a constitutional 13 amendment, in 1847, Congress legislatively ceded 14 back to Virginia from the District of Columbia the 15 non-Federal land composed of 31 square miles on 16 the west side of the Potomac River. 17 (11) Accordingly, the District of Columbia 18 would clearly and constitutionally have 2 Senators 19 and a Representative with full voting rights by 20 ceding the District of Columbia to Maryland after 21 Maryland’s acceptance of such retrocession, while 22 maintaining the exclusive legislative authority and 23 control of Congress over the Federal District in the 24 District of Columbia. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1361 IS SEC. 3. RETROCESSION OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TO 1 MARYLAND. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the issuance of a proclama- 3 tion by the President under section 8 and except as pro- 4 vided in subsection (b) of this section, the territory ceded 5 to Congress by the State of Maryland to serve as the Dis- 6 trict constituting the permanent seat of the Government 7 of the United States is ceded and relinquished to the State 8 of Maryland. 9 (b) CONTINUATION OF FEDERAL CONTROL OVER 10 FEDERAL DISTRICT.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 11 the Federal District described in section 5 shall not be 12 ceded and relinquished to the State of Maryland and shall 13 continue to serve as the permanent seat of the Govern- 14 ment of the United States, and Congress shall continue 15 to exercise exclusive legislative authority and control over 16 such District. 17 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS IN DISTRICT 18 OF COLUMBIA. 19 (a) CONTINUATION OF SUITS.—No writ, action, in- 20 dictment, cause, or proceeding pending in any court of the 21 District of Columbia on the effective date of this Act shall 22 abate as a result of the enactment of this Act, but shall 23 be transferred and shall proceed within such appropriate 24 court of the State of Maryland as established under the 25 laws or constitution of the State of Maryland. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1361 IS (b) APPEALS.—An order or decision of any court of 1 the District of Columbia for which no appeal has been filed 2 as of the effective date of this Act shall be considered an 3 order or decision of a court of the State of Maryland for 4 purposes of appeal from and appellate review of such order 5 or decision in an appropriate court of the State of Mary- 6 land. 7 SEC. 5. FEDERAL DISTRICT DESCRIBED. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c), (d), 9 and (e), upon the retrocession under section 3(a), the Fed- 10 eral District referred to in section 3(b)— 11 (1) shall consist of the territory located within 12 the boundaries described in subsection (b) of this 13 section; 14 (2) shall include the principal Federal monu- 15 ments, the White House, the United States Capitol, 16 the United States Supreme Court Building, and the 17 Federal executive, legislative, and judicial office 18 buildings located adjacent to the Mall and the 19 United States Capitol; and 20 (3) shall not include the building known as the 21 ‘‘John A. Wilson Building’’, as described and des- 22 ignated under section 601(a) of the Omnibus Spend- 23 ing Reduction Act of 1993 (sec. 10–1301(a), D.C. 24 Official Code). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1361 IS (b) GENERAL DESCRIPTION.—The boundaries of the 1 Federal District shall be as follows: Beginning at the 2 intersection of the southern right-of-way of F Street NE 3 and the eastern right-of-way of 2nd Street NE; 4 (1) thence south along said eastern right-of-way 5 of 2nd Street NE to its intersection with the north- 6 eastern right-of-way of Maryland Avenue NE; 7 (2) thence southwest along said northeastern 8 right-of-way of Maryland Avenue NE to its intersec- 9 tion with the northern right-of-way of Constitution 10 Avenue NE; 11 (3) thence west along said northern right-of- 12 way of Constitution Avenue NE to its intersection 13 with the eastern right-of-way of 1st Street NE; 14 (4) thence south along said eastern right-of-way 15 of 1st Street NE to its intersection with the south- 16 eastern right-of-way of Maryland Avenue NE; 17 (5) thence northeast along said southeastern 18 right-of-way of Maryland Avenue NE to its intersec- 19 tion with the eastern right-of-way of 2nd Street SE; 20 (6) thence south along said eastern right-of-way 21 of 2nd Street SE to its intersection with the north- 22 ern property boundary of the property designated as 23 Square 760 Lot 803; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1361 IS (7) thence east along said northern property 1 boundary of Square 760 Lot 803 to its intersection 2 with the western right-of-way of 3rd Street SE; 3 (8) thence south along said western right-of- 4 way of 3rd Street SE to its intersection with the 5 northern right-of-way of Independence Avenue SE; 6 (9) thence west along said northern right-of- 7 way of Independence Avenue SE to its intersection 8 with the northwestern right-of-way of Pennsylvania 9 Avenue SE; 10 (10) thence northwest along said northwestern 11 right-of-way of Pennsylvania Avenue SE to its inter- 12 section with the eastern right-of-way of 2nd Street 13 SE; 14 (11) thence south along said eastern right-of- 15 way of 2nd Street SE to its intersection with the 16 southern right-of-way of C Street SE; 17 (12) thence west along said southern right-of- 18 way of C Street SE to its intersection with the east- 19 ern right-of-way of 1st Street SE; 20 (13) thence south along said eastern right-of- 21 way of 1st Street SE to its intersection with the 22 southern right-of-way of D Street SE; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1361 IS (14) thence west along said southern right-of- 1 way of D Street SE to its intersection with the east- 2 ern right-of-way of South Capitol Street; 3 (15) thence south along said eastern right-of- 4 way of South Capitol Street to its intersection with 5 the northwestern right-of-way of Canal Street SE; 6 (16) thence southeast along said northwestern 7 right-of-way of Canal Street SE to its intersection 8 with the southern right-of-way of E Street SE; 9 (17) thence east along said southern right-of- 10 way of said E Street SE to its intersection with the 11 western right-of-way of 1st Street SE; 12 (18) thence south along said western right-of- 13 way of 1st Street SE to its intersection with the 14 southernmost corner of the property designated as 15 Square 736S Lot 801; 16 (19) thence west along a line extended due west 17 from said corner of said property designated as 18 Square 736S Lot 801 to its intersection with the 19 southwestern right-of-way of New Jersey Avenue 20 SE; 21 (20) thence southeast along said southwestern 22 right-of-way of New Jersey Avenue SE to its inter- 23 section with the northwestern right-of-way of Vir- 24 ginia Avenue SE; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1361 IS (21) thence northwest along said northwestern 1 right-of-way of Virginia Avenue SE to its intersec- 2 tion with the western right-of-way of South Capitol 3 Street; 4 (22) thence north along said western right-of- 5 way of South Capitol Street to its intersection with 6 the southern right-of-way of E Street SW; 7 (23) thence west along said southern right-of- 8 way of E Street SW to its end; 9 (24) thence west along a line extending said 10 southern right-of-way of E Street SW westward to 11 its intersection with the eastern right-of-way of 2nd 12 Street SW; 13 (25) thence north along said eastern right-of- 14 way of 2nd Street SW to its intersection with the 15 southwestern right-of-way of Virginia Avenue SW; 16 (26) thence northwest along said southwestern 17 right-of-way of Virginia Avenue SW to its intersec- 18 tion with the western right-of-way of 3rd Street SW; 19 (27) thence north along said western right-of- 20 way of 3rd Street SW to its intersection with the 21 northern right-of-way of D Street SW; 22 (28) thence west along said northern right-of- 23 way of D Street SW to its intersection with the east- 24 ern right-of-way of 4th Street SW; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1361.IS S1361 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1361 IS (29) thence north along said eastern right-of- 1 way of 4th Street SW to its intersection with the 2 northern right-of-way of C Street SW; 3 (30) thence west along said northern right-of- 4 way of C Street SW to its intersection with the east- 5 ern right-of-way of 6th Street SW; 6 (31) thence north along said eastern right-of- 7 way of 6th Street SW to its intersection with the 8 northern right-of-way of Independence Avenue SW; 9 (32) thence west along said northern right-of- 10 way of Independence Avenue SW to its intersection 11 with the western right-of-way of 12th Street SW; 12 (33) thence south along said western right-of- 13 way of 12th Street SW to its intersection with the 14 northern right-of-way of D Street SW; 15 (34) thence west along said northern right-of- 16 way of D Street SW to its intersection with the east- 17 ern right-of-way of 14th Street SW; 18 (35) thence south along said eastern right-of- 19 way of 14th Street SW to its intersection with the 20 northeastern boundary of the Consolidated Rail Cor- 21 poration railroad easement; [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]