Montana congressman predicts resolving crime in DC will be a bipartisan matter in the House

Congressman Troy Downing, R-Mont., on Wednesday predicted that getting crime under control in Washington, D.C., is a bipartisan issue that House Democrats and Republicans could get behind codifying.

"I think that is probably something we could all rally behind," Downing said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "And this is coming to the message that we keep hearing over and over and dealing with over and over, is [that] the President is doing these orders that are short-term fixes. We need to start codifying those in Congress to make sure that they're not short-term fixes [and] that we actually have a long-term horizon to solve that problem."

On Monday, President Donald Trump said he would act to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., including by deploying the National Guard.

Trump lamented a long-term rise in crime in the city, highlighting that D.C.'s crime rates had surpassed the capitals of many other nations.

Downing predicted that there would be a number of Democrats, at least in the House, to come together in a bipartisan manner on crime. 

"It's a little easier to get something passed in the House than it is to get it to the President's desk, because of the requirements to get it through the Senate," he said. "But I think there are enough people that, even on the other side of the aisle, are going to care about law and order to get something done longer term."

Downing said he hadn't had a chance to talk to his Democratic colleagues about the issue but believed something could be done.