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HR 1022
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Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act

To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to revise references in such title to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Introduced Feb 5, 2025

Latest action (Feb 5, 2025) Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Referred to
Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Policy area
Law
Legislative subjects (4)
Disability and health-based discriminationDistrict of ColumbiaFederal district courtsSpecialized courts

Summary
  • Updates DC Official Code Section 11-501(2)(D) to replace "substantially retarded persons" with "persons with moderate intellectual disabilities" in provisions regarding the jurisdiction of the United States District Court.
  • Updates DC Official Code Section 11-921(a)(4)(D) to replace "substantially retarded persons" with "persons with moderate intellectual disabilities" in provisions regarding the jurisdiction of the Superior Court.
  • Updates DC Official Code Section 11-1101(a)(15) to replace "the at least moderately mentally retarded" with "persons with moderate intellectual disabilities" in provisions regarding the jurisdiction of the Family Court.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor

Actions (3)
  1. Feb 5, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
  2. Feb 5, 2025 Introduced in House
  3. Feb 5, 2025 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E99)

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

  • S 402 — Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act (shares 4 subjects)
  • HR 9770 — Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 7148 — Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 7006 — Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 5166 — Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 1654 — CUTS Act (shares 3 subjects)
  • S 2524 — An original bill making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes. (shares 3 subjects)
  • S 2882 — Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act, 2026 (shares 2 subjects)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • S 402 — Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act · Introduced Feb 5, 2025 · Cong. 119 89%
  • HR 4061 — District of Columbia Local Juror Non-Discrimination Act of 2025 · Introduced Jun 20, 2025 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 1173 — Equal Federal Funding for the District of Columbia Act · Introduced Feb 10, 2025 · Cong. 119 64%
  • HR 565 — District of Columbia Federal Judicial Officials Residency Equality Act of 2025 · Introduced Jan 20, 2025 · Cong. 119 64%
  • HR 1774 — To amend title 23, United States Code, to withhold certain apportionment funds from the District of Columbia unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia removes the phrase Black Lives Matter from the street symbolically designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza, redesignates such street as Liberty Plaza, and removes such phrase from each website, document, and other material under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia. · Introduced Mar 3, 2025 · Cong. 119 63%
  • HR 4300 — Commission of Fine Arts District of Columbia Home Rule Act · Introduced Jul 7, 2025 · Cong. 119 62%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Feb 5, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 5, 2025

Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

A BILL

To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to revise references in such title to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act”.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES.

(a) Jurisdiction of United States District Court.—Section 11- 501(2)(D), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking “substantially retarded persons” and inserting “persons with moderate intellectual disabilities”.

(b) Jurisdiction of Superior Court.—Section 11-921(a)(4)(D), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking “substantially retarded persons” and inserting “persons with moderate intellectual disabilities”.

(c) Jurisdiction of Family Court.—Section 11-1101(a)(15), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking “the at least moderately mentally retarded” and inserting “persons with moderate intellectual disabilities”. <all>

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