参议院以81票对14票，佐治亚州民主党人拉斐尔·沃诺克(Raphael Warnock)在场投票，否决了提议的变革。民主党核心小组的33名成员投票支持共和党。
“这是好政策的反面。这将使犯罪浪潮更加严重。该决议的主要发起者、田纳西州共和党参议员比尔·哈格蒂(Bill Clinton)在会上说，“它传递了一个错误的信息，即华盛顿对暴力犯罪并不重视。”。
然而，他告诉记者，他对与市议会合作继续更新刑法持“开放”态度。
哈格蒂说:“来自全国各地的大多数美国人每周都会访问我们的首都，与他们的联邦代表会面，并欣赏我们的国家历史。”。“国会有宪法义务确保这些游客可以走在人行道上或享受美食，而不用担心成为受害者。”
新法典将降低对入室盗窃、劫车、抢劫和其他违法行为的最高刑罚，同时增加对包括谋杀未遂在内的犯罪的量刑。它还将取消某些罪行的强制性最低刑期，并扩大某些轻罪的陪审团审判。
该地区的市议会最初以13比0的优势通过了这些改革，尽管市长穆里尔·布瑟，一名民主党人，否决了它。她的否决以12票对1票被推翻，从而将该法案送交众议院。
由于该地区的独特地位，国会有权制定法律。
在众议院，共和党人领导了一项停止努力的决议并有31名民主党人加入。在2月份的投票后，拜登总统表示，他将签署共和党的立法，这为参议院民主党人打开了闸门，他们也支持停止对刑法典的修改。
共和党领导的阻止改革进行的措施引发了对民主党人关于犯罪的信息的广泛辩论，这是确保公共安全的最佳方式，也是国家首都应该拥有多大自主权的问题，包括拜登在内的许多民主党人都呼吁它成为一个州。
2023年3月8日，示威者在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦附近参加华盛顿特区独立集会。该组织抗议国会参与DC华盛顿当地的政治，因为参议院预计将投票阻止...显示更多undefined
凯文·迪奇/盖蒂图片社
新刑法的倡导者表示，这座城市应该被允许自治，并指出三十年来国会从未推翻过华盛顿的任何法律。
支持者还列举了一部超过一个世纪没有更新到这种程度的刑法的修订时间。
“哥伦比亚特区选出的代表们，在经过详尽的审查后，作出了一些关于刑事司法改革的决定。我不同意他们做出的每一项决定，但我可以告诉你:他们的所作所为完全是正当的，当然也不会上升到美国国会30年来第一次大规模支持他们的决定的水平，”马里兰州民主党参议员克里斯·范·霍伦(Chris Van Hollen)周三表示。
在华盛顿长大的新泽西州民主党参议员科里·布克补充说，“想想这个机构是多么的傲慢和家长式，现在突然说他们需要成年人的监督，就像他们是孩子一样。”
国会大厦外的活动人士集会，敦促立法者停止废除这些变革的努力，但无济于事。
根据国会警察的说法，有17人被捕，包括当地当选的官员，他们是咨询邻里委员会和倡导组织领导人的成员。至少有16人因涉嫌拥挤、妨碍和隔离他人而被捕，一人因涉嫌在一次有计划的非暴力反抗行动中损坏他人名誉而被捕。
“我们今天聚集在一起，向国会和拜登总统传达一个简单的信息。把你的手从华盛顿拿开。你要么支持华盛顿地方自治，要么不支持。没有例外。在特区自治的权利上没有中间地带。埃莉诺·霍姆斯·诺顿(Eleanor Holmes Norton)是华盛顿在国会的唯一代表，她无权就立法投票。
不过，这还不足以削弱对该法案的支持，尤其是在拜登和纽约州参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)表示支持该法案之后。
“我要投赞成票。这是一个很难回答的问题。但总的来说，我投赞成票，”舒默周二表示。
白宫为拜登的支持辩护，认为这是他支持打击犯罪努力的标志，尽管他也支持该地区的自治。
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。”
Senate overwhelmingly votes to block changes to DC criminal code as activists protest
The Senate on Wednesday voted by a lopsided margin to haltmuch debated changes to Washington, D.C.'s, century-old criminal code, a move supported by President Joe Biden but criticized by some local activists.
The Senate voted 81-14, with Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock voting present, to shut down the proposed changes. Thirty-three members of the Democratic caucus voted along with Republicans.
"It’s the opposite of good policy. It will make the crime wave even worse. It sends the wrong message that D.C. isn’t serious about violent crime," the resolution's lead sponsor, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, said on the floor.
However, he told reporters, he was "open" to working with the city council to continue to update the criminal code.
"Most Americans from all over the country visit our nation’s capital each week to meet with their federal representatives and to enjoy our national history," Hagerty said. "Congress has a constitutional obligation to make sure these visitors can walk down the sidewalk or enjoy a meal without fear of becoming victims."
The new code would have reduced maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses while increasing sentences for crimes including attempted murder. It would have also eliminated some mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes and would have expanded jury trials for certain misdemeanors.
The district's city council initially passed the changes by a 13-0 margin, though Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, vetoed it. Her veto was overturned by a 12-1 vote, sending the legislation to the House.
Because of the district's unique status, Congress has authority over its laws.
In the House, Republicansled a resolution to shut down the effortand were joined by 31 Democrats. After that February vote, President Biden said he would sign the GOP legislation, opening the floodgates for Senate Democrats to say they too supported stopping the changes to the criminal code.
The GOP-led measure to block the reforms from taking place sparked broad debate over Democrats' messaging on crime, the best way to ensure public safety and how much autonomy the nation's capital should have, with many Democrats -- including Biden -- having called for it to be a state.
Advocates of the new criminal code said the city deserves to be allowed to govern itself, noting that no Washington law has been overturned by Congress in three decades.
Supporters also cited how long the revisions were developed for a criminal code that hasn't been updated to this degree in more than a century.
"The elected representatives of the District of Columbia, after exhaustive review made some decisions about criminal justice reform. I don't agree with every single one of them they made, but I'll tell you this: What they did is entirely defensible, and it certainly doesn't rise to the level of the United States Congress for the first time in 30 years big-footing their decisions," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Wednesday.
"Think about how patronizing and paternalistic for this body not being any part of this process now suddenly saying they need adult supervision as if they are children," added Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was raised in D.C.
Activists outside the Capitol rallied to push lawmakers to shut down the effort to scrap the changes, but to no avail.
Seventeen people were arrested, according to Capitol Police, including local elected officials who are members of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and advocacy organization leaders. At least 16 people were arrested for allegedly crowding, obstructing and incommoding another person and one was arrested for alleged defacement during a planned act of civil disobedience.
"We have come together today with one simple message for Congress, and President Biden. Keep your hands off D.C. You either support D.C. home rule or you don’t. There are no exceptions. And there is no middle ground on D.C.’s rights to self-government," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's only representative in Congress and who doesn't get to vote on legislation, said at a protest.
Still, it was not enough to blunt the support for the legislation, particularly after Biden and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., said they supported it.
"I'm going to vote yes. It was a close question. But on the balance, I'm voting yes," Schumer said Tuesday.
The White House defended Biden's backing as a sign of his support for anti-crime efforts despite also endorsing home rule for the district.
"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."
