Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Our city has faced unwelcome, unwarranted and unprecedented federal interference this year. From the massive federal workforce layoffs to the deployment of ICE agents and National Guard troops on our streets, the impact of the federal overreach has upended the lives of many District residents.
Let me be very clear in this moment: I am committed to continuing to fight on your behalf to ensure that our local laws keep people safe and empower our residents to prosper. Our local officials and local law enforcement, who are accountable to District residents, are best positioned to do so.?
As chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, I have passed dozens of laws, including far-reaching and comprehensive public safety legislative packages that have helped significantly drive down crime in the District. I am working on next steps to see more sustained safety across our city.
Crime dropped to its lowest levels in more than three decades last year after my Secure DC legislation was passed and implemented. Secure DC included more than 100 interventions that help prevent and end cycles of violence, enhance accountability for crime and increase oversight of our public safety agencies.???
This year, the District Council passed my Peace DC Omnibus, which builds on the success of Secure DC by strengthening the Safe Passage Program to ensure students can get to and from school safely, extending the ability for courts to hold defendants charged with violent offenses pretrial, bolstering support for our local police and fire departments and reducing recidivism by creating pathways to stable housing and employment for returning citizens.
I am proud of the tremendous progress we have made in the District to reduce violent crime over the last two years. The work to keep driving down crime must continue.??
I am also committed to ensuring that our residents have opportunities to prosper. Whether that be through investments in our schools to provide our kids the tools they need to thrive inside and outside the classroom, my initiatives to train every teacher on structured reading to improve literacy rates or the passage of my bill to ban mobile phones from the classroom, we are making progress on opportunities every day.???
We must continue to create pathways to economic resilience and opportunity and ensure that our city is attractive and competitive for businesses, jobs and new industries. I secured revitalization efforts in downtown and Georgetown through office-to-residential and retail conversions. I worked to ensure that we streamlined the licensing process to support our small businesses and to make doing business in D.C. accessible, efficient and cost-effective. We also must continue to support the many federal workers who have been unfairly pushed out and make sure there are job opportunities here in the District.???
The D.C. government must maintain our ability to govern ourselves. Advancing policies that work for our communities is our number-one responsibility as District officials. The nation’s capital is our home, too. There will always be opportunities to partner with a federal government committed to serious solutions that benefit our residents; however, a trampling of our rights and autonomy is not the way to build a safe and prosperous Washington.???
Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto has represented Georgetown, downtown and other D.C. neighborhoods since 2020.?