参议院打算在本周进行投票撤销备受争议的华盛顿特区刑法的修改尽管市议会主席周一试图撤回最初的立法，以便修改并重新提交。
围绕所谓的华盛顿犯罪法案不断演变的争议的最新一集始于周一，当时华盛顿特区议会主席菲尔·门德尔松(Phil Mendelson)向担任参议院议长的副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯(John Kerry)递交了一封信，确认该市将撤回其刑法修正案，以便做出进一步的修改，并在未来的某个日期将修正案发回国会。
在特区的独特地位下，国会对其法律拥有最终的权威。
“我在信中说得很清楚，将它撤回意味着时钟停止，它将被重新发送给两院，这将使委员会能够根据国会的意见制定措施，并在以后重新发送。所以，我会说我不知道那会阻止参议院共和党人。但我们的立场是，该法案不再摆在国会面前，”Mendelson告诉记者。
然而，参议院两党领导人的助手告诉美国广播公司新闻，门德尔松的信不会影响投票或阻止国会通过一项不批准刑法典修改的决议。
参议院民主党领导层的一名工作人员表示，授权国会批准华盛顿法律的权力不允许地区立法在提交后撤回。
这位人士还表示，众议院已经通过的废除法典修改的措施正在参议院进行投票，而不是参议院直接就华盛顿犯罪法案进行投票。
“我们仍然希望投票能够进行，”该消息人士说。
一名共和党高级领导人助理证实了这一点，他说:“我们仍然会投票，并让民主党人对他们在犯罪议程上的软弱负责。”
参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默随后告诉记者，投票将于周三举行，但他没有说明他将如何投票。
地区市议会去年一致通过了对其刑法的修改。这些修订历时约16年，将标志着该守则自1901年问世以来的首次重大更新。
在这些变化中，它将降低入室盗窃、劫车、抢劫和其他犯罪的最高刑罚，取消一些犯罪的强制性最低刑期，并扩大一些轻罪的陪审团审判。对其他罪行的处罚，如谋杀未遂和性侵犯未遂，将会加重。
2023年3月2日，乔·拜登总统在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦参加完参议院民主党党团闭门午餐会后对新闻媒体发表讲话。
Leah Millis/路透社，文件
市长穆里尔·布瑟是一名民主党人，他否决了这项立法，但是议会在一月份以12比1的投票结果推翻了她的否决。委员会的一些人引用了“激烈而健康的辩论”进入了修正案，而其他人则表示，在修改生效之前，仍将有几年时间通过修正案。
根据《地方自治法》,这项立法随后被送交国会批准。
在31名民主党人的帮助下，众议院的共和党多数派于2月通过了一项反对该立法的法案。田纳西州共和党参议员比尔·哈格蒂发起了一项相同的决议，以撤销犯罪法案，一些参议院民主党人——从保守派到自由派——告诉美国广播公司，他们计划投票支持共和党人。
刑法典的修改以及由此在国会引发的反弹，引发了民主党人关于在尊重国家首都自主权的同时保护公共安全的最佳方式的辩论。
这是30年来国会首次对华盛顿行使这一权力，面对共和党的批评，以及民主党在芝加哥和纽约高调失利，民主党人改变了对该地区独立的正常支持，在芝加哥和纽约，犯罪和公共安全已成为主要问题。
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)介入了这场辩论，他上周表示，如果这项不赞成的决议获得通过，他不会予以否决，尽管白宫此前表示反对国会干预，并再次呼吁华盛顿特区成为一个州。
白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔上周对记者说:“总统相信的一件事是确保美国的街道和全国各地的社区安全。”。“这包括华盛顿。”
前议长南希·佩洛西说，她希望总统在众议院民主党人投票支持新刑法之前“先告诉我们”。
Senate will still vote on stopping DC criminal code changes after councilman tried to withdraw bill
The Senateintends to move forward with a vote this weekto revoke much-debatedchanges to Washington, D.C.'s criminal codeeven as the city council's chairman sought Monday to withdraw the original legislation so that it could be revised and resubmitted.
The latest episode in the evolving controversy over the so-called D.C. crime bill began Monday when D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson delivered a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris in her capacity as president of the Senate confirming that the city would withdraw its criminal code revisions in order to make further changes and send them back to Congress at a future date.
Under the district's unique status, Congress has ultimate authority over its laws.
"I'm quite clear in my letter that pulling it back means that the clock stops and it would have to be retransmitted to both houses, and that this will enable the council to work on the measure in light of congressional comments and to [be] retransmitted later. So, I will say I don't know that that will stop the Senate Republicans. But our position is that the bill is not before Congress anymore," Mendelson told reporters.
However, Senate leadership aides on both sides of the aisle told ABC News that Mendelson's letter will not affect the vote or stop Congress from passing a resolution disapproving of the criminal code changes.
A Senate Democratic leadership staffer said that the authority granting Congress the power to green-light Washington laws does not allow for district legislation to be withdrawn after it is sent.
This person also said that the House measure to scrap the code changes, which was already passed, is what is receiving a vote in the Senate -- rather than the Senate voting directly on the D.C. crime bill.
"We still expect the vote to occur," the source said.
A senior GOP leadership aide confirmed the same, saying, "We will still vote and hold Democrats accountable for their soft on crime agenda."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer subsequently told reporters that the vote would be held Wednesday, though he didn't say how he would cast his ballot.
The district city council last year unanimously passed changes to its criminal code. The revisions, in development for some 16 years, would mark the first major update to the code since its inception in 1901.
Among the changes, it would reduce maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses, scrap some mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes and expand jury trials for some misdemeanors. The penalties for other crimes, such as attempted murder and attempted sexual assault, would increase.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation but the council overrode her veto in a 12-1 vote in January. Some on the councilcited the"robust and healthy debate" that went into the revisions while others said there would still be several years to pass amendments before the changes would take effect.
The legislation was then sent to Congress for approval, under the Home Rule Act.
The House's Republican majority, with the help of 31 Democrats, in February passed a bill disapproving of the legislation. Sen Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., sponsored an identical resolution to quash the crime bill and a number of Senate Democrats -- from conservative to liberal -- have told ABC that they plan to vote with Republicans.
The criminal code changes and the resulting backlash in Congress have stirred debate among Democrats about the best approach to public safety while respecting the autonomy of the nation's capital.
This is the first time in 30 years that Congress is using this power over D.C. and Democrats have reversed their normal support of the district's independence in the face of GOP criticism and in the wake of high-profile Democratic losses in Chicago and New York, where crime and public safety have become major concerns.
President Joe Biden waded into the debate when he said last week that he would not veto the disapproval resolution if it passes, though the White House previously said it opposed Congress intervening and repeated a call for D.C. statehood.
“One thing the president believes in is making sure that the streets in America and communities across the country are safe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week. “That includes D.C.”
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said that she wished the president "told us first" before House Democrats voted in support of the new criminal code.
