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Carol Schwartz for Mayor
1005 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 393-7300 - Fax (202) 639-8738

Responses to American Civil Liberties Union Questionnaire

1. What do you see as the most significant civil liberties problem in the District, and how would you work to improve it?

The most significant civil liberties problem facing the District is that its residents are denied the inalienable rights that all citizens of the United States enjoy under our democratic form of government. And in the past three years, our limited self government has been all but eliminated by the Congress of the United States. Our elected representative does not have a vote. Our mayor and two of our elected bodies — the Council of the District of Columbia and the Board of Education — have been stripped of their right to govern. In place of officials who were duly elected by the people of the District, who pay taxes and vote here, are people who have little allegiance to the voters who pay dearly for their offices and staff. This is wrong.

In my role as chair of the Council’s Committee on Local, Regional and Federal Affairs, I have been consistent and vociferous in registering my opposition to this state of affairs. I have voiced my opposition to members of Congress — and not just the members of the DC subcommittees in the Senate and House - and to the presidentially-appointed, congressionally-approved, non-elected control board. I will continue my opposition to taxation without representation until we have voting representation in the United States Congress and until home rule is returned to the citizens of the District of Columbia. More specifically, as mayor I will work to establish credibility with Congress and the citizens of the United States by living within our means and spending the dollars we do have efficiently, effectively and humanely.

But the fight for democracy for the residents of the District cannot end just because we balance our budget and the control board goes out of existence. We must continue this battle until we are able to spend the tax money we raise as we see fit. We must continue this fight until we are able to say with no fear of reprisals that people who earn their living by working in our government should live here. We must continue this fight until the residents of the District of Columbia are full citizens of the United States.

2. Of the options for Self-Determination for D.C., which specific one do you most support?

Without reserve, I am a proponent of restoring home rule to the District — immediately. How we configure home rule, once it is returned, should be decided by the citizens of D.C. and I would be happy to lead that discussion as Mayor. I also want full representation in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia. Anything short of that has the potential to bring us again to the situation we find ourselves in today Congress deciding our fate while we have no say in that body. I am supportive of the legal initiative to sue the federal government for representation under the Equal Protection of the Law provision of the Constitution.

3. How would you improve relations with Congress?

I have already begun the process of improving relationships with Congress on my own and in my capacity as chair of the Council’s Committee on Local, Regional and Federal Affairs. And you should bear in mind, as the first Republican mayor of the District of Columbia, I will have greater access to Congress than I already have and certainly more than others who are running will have. I will continue to build on the relationships that I have established over many years, often as the lone Republican in local government, to ensure that District concerns are addressed and our needs met. Good management and fiscal responsibility will strengthen congressional confidence in the District government and I intend to deliver on both.

I consider each member in Congress a key player because each member in Congress could help or hurt DC. I have good relationships on both sides of the aisle in Congress would appeal to the leadership of both parties concerning their sense of fair play and equity and ask them to provide District residents the plain and simple rights that every other American citizen possesses — primarily, the right to control their own destinies.

I would also begin relationships with the national parties since they, many times, are the key to the congressional members' re-elections, and use them to appeal to all of America for equal rights under the Constitution. I want the Voting Rights Amendment re-enacted if our present legal actions fail; and with my leadership as mayor, I believe we can have that which is rightfully ours.

4. How would you, or did you vote on Bill 12-253, “Truth in Sentencing Amendment Act of 1998”? Please explain your decision.

I consider my vote for Bill 12-253 a straightforward vote for home rule. I did not want the Attorney General to make this kind of decision for the citizens of the District of Columbia. Had the Council not moved when and as it did the decision would have been made for us. I could not allow home rule to be further eroded and undermined by leaving critical decisions regarding sentencing to the federal government. Bill 12-253 enables District elected officials to remain as significant participants in discussions about criminal justice.


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