Rep. Summer Lee Slams Republicans on Bills That Would Strip DC Autonomy, Deter Public Safety, and Criminalize Homelessness
“What [Republicans] are attempting to do in DC right now is just a forecast for what they actually want in the entire country.”
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 — Yesterday, during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee markup, Congresswomen Summer L. Lee (PA-12) slammed Republicans for passing a series of legislation that would deter public safety in Washington D.C. and criminalize people experiencing homelessness. After over 10 hours, the Republican-led committee advanced the bills that would expand the federal government’s power over D.C. and chip away at its autonomy.
On the Cash Bail Reform Act, Rep. Lee urged her colleagues to oppose the bill, which would mandate pretrial detention for certain charges and attach a mandatory cash bail amount for a slew of other charges. Pretrial detention means that a person has only been accused of committing a crime but haven’t been found guilty, haven’t gone in front of a jury, and the state hasn’t proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We are not in a country where one is presumed guilty just because they’re Black or poor but they’re assumed innocent if they are a white-collar criminal on living on Pennsylvania Avenue. It seems Republicans have forgotten about innocent until proven guilty and the Fifth Amendment—core tenants of our democracy,” said Rep. Lee. “It’s also why it’s so important for these people to have an attorney during these hearings which is why I introduced the True Justice Act to provide grants to public defender offices to expand their services to include bail hearings.”
On the so-called Strong Sentences for Safer D.C. Streets Act, Rep. Lee condemned Republicans for this bill that would criminalize homelessness.
“That’s the crime they’re creating,” said Rep. Lee. “Sleeping outside while we’re in a housing crisis, while wages are stagnant, while grocery bills have not come down, while interest rates are through the roof, while the student loan crisis balloons, while joblessness is at a high, and while we see the largest wealth transfer from the poor to the rich from a bill passed by Republicans.”
Footage from the Committee markup can be found here.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.