House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) praised the D.C. Council for completing legislative steps to advance the redevelopment of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus in Washington, D.C.
“The redevelopment plan for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus is a bipartisan success story, and I commend the D.C. Council for taking the final step today to turn this long-awaited vision into reality for our nation’s capital. The House Oversight Committee has a constitutional duty to oversee Washington, D.C. and our legislative work shows we are taking this responsibility seriously and delivering real results. Revitalizing the RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a key economic priority for the city, and I’m proud to have worked alongside Mayor Muriel Bowser to turn this long-neglected property into a world-class destination that will serve residents and visitors alike. The Committee will continue to work with D.C. officials to ensure a capital city that is prosperous and beautiful for generations to come,” said Comer.
The RFK Memorial Stadium campus in Southeast D.C., once an important venue for residents, had fallen into disuse with parking lots, open fields, and a deteriorating stadium undergoing demolition. In July 2023, Comer introduced bipartisan legislation—the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act (H.R. 4984)—to transfer administrative jurisdiction over the stadium site from the Secretary of the Interior to the District of Columbia while keeping federal ownership of the land intact.
The bill allows Washington, D.C., to redevelop the area for stadium use as well as commercial, residential, or other public purposes but prohibits federal taxpayer funds from being used in future stadium redevelopment projects at this location. The Congressional Budget Office found that this legislation would not affect the federal deficit.
Comer’s legislation passed several milestones: it cleared the House of Representatives in February 2024; advanced through the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in November 2024; was approved by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate on December 21, 2024; and was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in January 2025.
James Comer has represented Kentucky’s 1st district in Congress since 2016 after succeeding Ed Whitfield (source). Before his congressional service, he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2001 to 2012 (source). Born in Carthage, Tennessee in 1972, Comer currently lives in Tompkinsville at age 50 (source). He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 (source).
