Judiciary & Public Safety Public Hearing

Council of the District of Columbia COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004 COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES ALLEN, CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC HEARING ON B24-0516, the “Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act of 2021” And B24-0560, the “Animal Care and Control Omnibus Amendment Act of 2021” Monday, February 28, 2022, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Virtual Hearing via Zoom To Watch Live: https://www.facebook.com/CMcharlesallen/ On Monday, February 28, 2022, Councilmember Charles Allen, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will convene a public hearing to consider Bill 24-0516, the “Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act of 2021”, and Bill 24-0560, the “Animal Care and Control Omnibus Amendment Act of 2021”. The hearing will be conducted virtually via Zoom from 1:30 p.m. to no later than 4:30 p.m. The stated purpose of B24-0516, the “Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act of 2021”, is to prohibit the female genital mutilation of a person under care, to expand mandated reporter reporting requirements to include female genital mutilation, and to provide for a civil action for female genital mutilation. The stated purpose of B24-0560, the “Animal Care and Control Omnibus Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations to authorize animal control officers to operate emergency lights and sirens when responding to a life threatening animal- related emergency; to amend Chapter 106 of the Acts of the Legislative Assembly to provide for the provision of a bond to care for seized animals during the pendency of criminal or other proceedings; to prohibit the possession of an implement of dogfighting; to prohibit sexual contact between a person and an animal, including the advertisement, offer of sale, or dissemination of photographs or video footage of sexual contact between a person and animal; to prohibit cat declawing; to prohibit a pet store operator from selling a live dog, cat, or aquatic turtle in a pet store unless the animal was obtained from the Animal Care and Control Agency, a society for the 1 prevention of cruelty to animals, a humane society shelter, or rescue group; and to alter the pure property disposition of a pet in a divorce. The Committee invites the public to provide oral and written testimony. Public witnesses seeking to provide oral testimony at the Committee’s hearing must thoroughly review the following instructions: • Anyone wishing to provide oral testimony must email the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us with their name, telephone number, organizational affiliation, and title (if any), by the close of business on Wednesday, February 23. • The Committee will approve witnesses’ registrations based on the total time allotted for public testimony. The Committee will also determine the order of witnesses’ testimony. • Representatives of organizations will be allowed a maximum of five minutes for oral testimony, and individuals (and any subsequent representatives of the same organizations) will be allowed a maximum of three minutes. In order to accommodate additional public witnesses, the Committee may reduce witnesses’ allotted time for testimony but will inform witnesses if it plans to do so. • Witnesses are not permitted to yield their time to, or substitute their testimony for, the testimony of another individual or organization. • If possible, witnesses should submit a copy of their testimony electronically in advance to judiciary@dccouncil.us. • Witnesses who anticipate needing language interpretation are requested to inform the Committee as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the hearing. The Committee will make every effort to fulfill timely requests; however, requests received fewer than five business days before the hearing may not be fulfilled. For witnesses who are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us. The record will close at the end of the business day on Monday, March 14. 2