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.

This bill would pressure Washington, DC to remove the words “Black Lives Matter” from the stretch of 16th Street NW between H and K Streets (now called Black Lives Matter Plaza) and rename that area “Liberty Plaza.” It would also require DC to remove the phrase from any DC-run websites, documents, and other materials. If DC does not do this, the federal government would hold back half of DC’s yearly highway money from the Highway Trust Fund, starting on the first day of any year DC is not in compliance.

Key points:

• Who is affected: The DC government and, indirectly, DC residents who rely on road and transportation funding.
• What changes: Remove “Black Lives Matter” from the plaza and DC materials, and rename the area to “Liberty Plaza”.
• When it matters: Each fiscal year DC does not comply, 50% of its highway funds would be withheld on the first day of that year.