WASHINGTON—Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) released the following statement after President Joe Biden signed into law the bipartisan D.C. Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act:

“The D.C. RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act is a bipartisan success story. The House Oversight Committee has a constitutional duty to oversee our nation’s capital city and this legislation shows how we are taking this responsibility seriously and doing our job. If we failed, American taxpayers across the country would have continued to pay a fortune to maintain a decaying and vacant piece of land in Washington, D.C. Now, this land can be repurposed at no cost to the taxpayer to bring economic prosperity to the District. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on legislative opportunities to ensure a capital city that is safe and prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.” 

Background:

In July 2023, Chairman James Comer introduced the D.C. RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act (H.R. 4984), bipartisan legislation that transfers administrative jurisdiction over the RFK stadium site from the Secretary of the Interior to the District of Columbia. The bill will maintain federal ownership of the land and allow the District of Columbia to use the land for stadium redevelopment, commercial and residential development, and other public purposes. In addition, the legislation prohibits federal taxpayer funds from being used for any future stadium redevelopment at the site. The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the legislation indicated the bill would have no impact on the federal deficit.  

Chairman Comer’s legislation passed the House of Representatives previously in February 2024, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in November 2024, and the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent on December 21, 2024.