Norton 2007 Victories Reflect Her Seniority and Gavel, She Sets High 2008 Goals (12/27/07)

Victories in First Year as a Committee Chair in the New Democratic Majority

Washington, DC--Armed for the first time with a gavel, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton used her role as a new subcommittee chair and her valuable seniority in the new majority to reach long-time milestones in passing local and national bills, detailed today in her annual Year End Report to Constituents on Victories and Goals. She scored major D.C. victories for voting rights and additional provisions for equal treatment for residents, including passage of the D.C. voting rights bill in the House and near passage in the Senate (expected next year); restoring D.C.'s vote on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole; lifting two notorious riders detested by residents banning local funds for needle exchange and for voting rights lobbying and court relief; reauthorizing annual grants for D.C. college students and winning new permanent revenue streams for the University of the District of Columbia; achieving two bills that recognize the District's unique identity in the union (the D.C. Coin bill and the return of the Washington D.C. postmark); and gaining equal services for D.C. prison inmates. The House passed two long sought Norton bills for federal relief for the city (hazmat rerouting and halting Walter Reed Hospital closing) and three major environmental priorities (first comprehensive Anacostia cleanup bill, National flights contained, and important provisions in the new energy bill).

Norton also achieved impressive achievements in her first year as a subcommittee chair (Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee), using her new authority, both for local and national priorities. After holding a site hearing in the NOMA neighborhood, she tightened General Services Administration requirements in order to prevent federal agencies from refusing to locate in various neighborhoods. She shepherded passage of Democratic priority legislation for more rapid Gulf Coast relief, and she passed security guard legislation to improve contractor protection of federal employees and sites. Norton also succeeded in minimizing the effects of last minute omnibus bill cuts on the D.C. annual federal payment and on extra funds for D.C. projects and causes. These and other 2007 accomplishments are detailed below.

As Norton laid out what she accomplished and expected to do next year, she explained, "As a public official, I know I owe my constituents an accounting. I do mine annually. In the minority, I quickly learned to work well with congressional leaders, from former Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) to former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who together with many of my Republican colleagues, helped me keep securing important new benefits for residents. However, now that I am a member of the new majority, inevitably, I must hold myself to higher standards, and I expect D.C. residents will do the same."

Setting the Goal Post High for the Second Session

The Congresswoman has set ambitious goals for the second session, which she will press the new majority to deliver, beginning with Senate passage of the D.C. voting rights bill. Norton believes that this and many of her other priorities are ripe for passage. Among them, D.C. budget and legislative autonomy; several additional "Free and Equal" series bills, affording D.C. freedom from congressional interference; reauthorization of the D.C.-only $5,000 homebuyer and business tax credits; Department of Homeland Security headquarters funding at St. Elizabeths; three bills to aid the city's tourist economy (enlivening the National Mall; a public-private partnership to modernize three federally owned golf courses here, and preserving the Smithsonian); and a new "Greening D.C." initiative using federal environmental changes that her subcommittee will require. Norton, who has worked to end the Iraq war and to support the D.C. National Guard and other troops with bills for assistance passed this year, will continue her vigorous efforts to begin a sizable withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2008.

2008 GOALS

Completing D.C. Voting Rights and Ending Congressional Oversight of the District

The Senate's Turn to Pass D.C. Voting Rights Bill in 2008

Following House passage of the D.C. House Voting Rights bill, the Senate quickly brought the bill through committee and came within three of the 60 votes necessary for passage. With a year remaining in this session and the critical 2008 election year to work with, Norton and her allies here and across the country are increasingly confident, considering polls that show a strong 61 percent national majority for the bill, with no significant difference between Republicans and Democrats. Supporters are targeting eight senators as most persuadable.

Local Budget Control a Top Priority

Norton will build on progress made on H.R. 733 to allow D.C.'s budget to become law without being submitted to Congress. She wants passage of the bill that was voted out of subcommittee, fulfilling the District's long time priority to implement its budget when passed by the City Council, without months of delay and congressional interference.

End Redundant Review of Council Bills

Voted out of subcommittee, H.R. 1433, removing congressional oversight of D.C. Council legislation, is almost ready for the floor. Norton's legislative autonomy bill would remove congressional review that delays finality for D.C. legislation, usually for months because only legislative days count in the required layover period. Norton's fight that freed the D.C. school reform bill from "holds" placed by three senators is the most recent example of the need for legislative autonomy.

Freeing D.C. with More "Free and Equal D.C. Series" Bills

With Democrats in control of Congress, Norton moved three bills in her "Free and Equal D.C. Series" to eliminate anti-home rule and redundant restrictions that deprive the city of equal treatment as a self-governing jurisdiction (see discussion, above). She will seek action on the remaining bills in 2008: the D.C. District Attorney Act to allow the city to elect its own criminal justice officer; the D.C. Hatch Reform Act to allow D.C. to operate under a local rather than the federal Hatch Act; the D.C. Medicaid Reimbursement Act to require the federal government to assume a greater portion of state Medicaid costs until D.C. becomes a state; the D.C. National Guard Equality Act to give the Mayor the same authority to call up the Guard for domestic matters as governors; and a bill to permit statues honoring District of Columbia citizens to be placed in the Capitol as with other jurisdictions.

Building a Robust D.C. Economy

D.C. Tax Credits Likely To Return and Apply Back To 2007

Norton will seek renewal of her $5,000 homebuyer and business tax incentives. Although the credits expire at the end of 2007, she expects their passage in 2008 retroactively, as in the past, avoiding any lapse in economic benefits. These unique tax incentives are credited with stabilizing the city's population and business base by stemming decades of economy-starving taxpayer flight. Available only in D.C., the credits became a magnet for D.C. renters to buy here instead of fleeing to the suburbs, for businesses to both remain and come to the District, and for new residents to consider the city. The credits continue to be necessary to assure permanent stability for a city without a state revenue stream.

Three Bills for Resident Enjoyment and D.C.'s Tourist Economy

Residents and Tourists Deserve First Class Golf

Norton anticipates action on H.R. 4033 for a public-private partnership to upgrade and modernize the three National Park Service golf courses. Her bill authorizes much-needed improvements at Langston, Rock Creek and East Potomac that residents have long sought and the District's tourist economy needs.

A Bigger, Better, People Friendly Mall

Norton will press passage of H.R. 3880, the first bill to officially designate the boundaries of the National Mall, to allow its expansion, and to require enlivening the revered green space by making it welcoming to daytime residents, tourists, and workers. The low-cost bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan to enhance cultural and other visitor-oriented activities, such as free string and jazz ensembles and envisions attractive areas where visitors could eat brown-bag lunches or buy sandwiches. Passage is expected in 2008 after the National Capital Planning Commission receives comments on proposed expansion of Mall boundaries.

Smithsonian

Like her bills to revitalize the Mall and the golf courses, Norton's Smithsonian Modernization Act would help rescue one of the city's prime tourist attractions from an infrastructure crisis that threatens the unique array of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoo, and nine research facilities. After hearings, she introduced H.R. 4098 to convert the Board of Regents from overextended federal officials, who total nearly half, to all private sector members, who would be free to tap private funding and offer more extensive oversight. The recent scandal that rocked the Smithsonian and the near certainty that the federal government will not increase its 70 percent federal funding make Norton's bill ripe for passage.

Norton Pursues New Funding Avenues for DHS Headquarters in Ward 8

With pre-construction cleanup work already begun, Norton is in discussions for an alternative funding method for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters on the St. Elizabeths West Campus. Appropriators removed DHS funding and many other national provisions in the President's budget when he refused to bargain on an $11 billion difference with Congress. Norton believes she can get a new and different funding agreement because her proposal is less costly, because the headquarters has strong support from both the administration and the Congress, and because DHS encounters great difficulty in operating from 60 different locations. The headquarters will mark the first federal construction east of the Anacostia River and is expected to stimulate retail and commercial development along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE.

Federal Priorities: Green D.C. & End the Iraq War

Using the Federal Sector to Green D.C.

Norton will run with this year's environmental gains (discussed in Victories, above), beginning with a major "Greening D.C." effort in 2008, using the federal government's large construction and leasing footprint to lead greening and energy efficiency efforts in 1,500 federal and leased buildings here and throughout the United States. She also will seek to change the culture of the federal sector by giving GSA building managers greater authority to update energy equipment and to offer incentives that encourage federal employees to become on-the-job participants in conservation.

End the War Without End

Norton will continue to work on multiple fronts to end the Iraq War, support the troops, and seek peace and relief from poverty in troubled regions. Even without a vote, she engaged in many of these efforts, especially to end the Iraq War and begin returning our troops home. Norton will continue her work to help millions of Iraqis by introducing a bill to facilitate both the large numbers of Iraqis who want to return home and the immigration of more Iraqis to the United States, which admits the lowest number compared to other countries involved in the war. Beyond the clear moral responsibility of the United States to receive more Iraqi immigrants, facilitating the return home of Iraqis, many with skills needed in rebuilding, will help bring stability to Iraq. Norton will continue her strong support for D.C. National Guard members, their families and other troops. She will build on support for the troops, such as the $352,000 appropriated for college tuition aid for D.C. Guard members, many of whom have been deployed more than once, to match what many states provide. The Congresswoman spoke each time Guard units were deployed and returned, most recently, at the Iraq send-off for the 275th Military Police Company, whose deployment to Iraq was delayed while she worked to ensure that soldiers were properly trained and equipped. Recently, Norton attended services for one of these soldiers, D.C. National Guard Sergeant First Class Robin L. Towns, Sr., 52, killed in Iraq a few days after arriving there, and for Captain Darrell C. Lewis, 31, killed in Afghanistan.

Victories and Accomplishments

Landmark Bills for Voting Rights, Equal Treatment and
Freedom from Congressional Meddling for D.C. Achieved

House Passage of D.C. Voting Rights Bill Honors District's Foremost Priority

The Congresswoman pressed the new congressional majority to make history in the 110^th Congress by passing the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, Norton's first priority. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer got the bill to the floor soon after the Democratic majority took control and were successful on a second try after Republicans were prevented from attaching a provision eliminating the District's gun safety laws. Representative Tom Davis, who spearheaded the idea of a Utah-D.C. partnership when Republicans controlled the House, continued to offer his strong support. The vote was 241 - 177, with 22 Republicans supporting the bill.

Norton Casts Important Votes after Committee of the Whole Vote is Restored

Until she gets the full House vote, Norton has reclaimed the vote in the Committee of the Whole she first won during her second term. This first-ever D.C. vote on the House floor allows D.C. a vote on all amendments, and yielded many votes this year. Among the most controversial in the House, Norton's vote against an amendment to retain the needle exchange rider after she got appropriators to remove it, and her vote to prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers.

Needle Exchange Victory a Big Win but Norton also Partners with the Community to Drive HIV/AIDS Rate Down

Norton achieved her life-saving priority to lift the ban on exchanging infected needles that has driven the District's HIV/AIDS rate to the highest in the United States. However, because sexual contact is the primary mode of infection, she spent 2007 engaging residents in a "Series of Frank Conversations by Us with Us: A Self Examination on the D.C. HIV/AIDS Epidemic" to raise awareness and candor during four town hall meetings. Norton devotes considerable effort to securing Ryan White funds for D.C., but almost none of these funds are for prevention. Because 25 percent of Americans are unaware that they have the virus and may be spreading it, the first town meeting was with clergy, who accepted the charge to help lead the HIV/AIDS fight and bring the issue to many who remain un-reached in their congregations. Innovative suggestions included devoting part of regular services once a month to HIV/AIDS prevention; providing testing after services; and holding a Clergy Testing Day, which Norton later sponsored, to help eliminate the stigma some associate with the virus. Separate town meetings followed with the city's men, women, and teens. According to the feedback on comment cards, participants valued the opportunity to participate in making these issues a matter of greater public concern and to bring whispered myths in the open for discussion. Norton offered free testing at the town meetings, as she does at all of her events.

Local Funds Freed for D.C.'s Voting Rights

Norton succeeded in eliminating the longstanding rider that prohibited the use of local funds for D.C. voting rights lobbying efforts, and even for pursuing relief in court. Lifting this rider comes at a critical moment when the city's resources could mean the difference in winning the D.C. House Voting Rights bill during the year left to pick up three Senate votes.

Annual $10,000 Tuition Grants Reauthorized for All D.C. High School Grads

One of Norton's top priorities for 2007, D.C.'s popular Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG) was reauthorized for another five years. She fought off a means test in the D.C. College Access Act, Norton's bill that created the program, by stressing the bill's purposes to keep taxpayers at all levels from leaving the city, as well as to substitute for state university systems, which are not income-limited. However, the Senate added an amendment affecting a small group of families with taxable income of $1 million or more. Residents can receive $10,000 annual grants to attend state universities or $2,500 grants to attend private colleges here and in the region. DCTAG is credited with doubling college attendance in five years and with assisting almost 5,000 students attending 646 universities and colleges in 47 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands this year. Many students are the first in their families to attend college.

First Class HBCU Funding Achieved for UDC

Congresswoman Norton achieved her goal to eliminate the second class federal funding status of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) with two new bills. Pressing UDC as the only urban land grant institution in the country, Norton got provisions in the farm bill, passed by the House and Senate, which qualify UDC for millions of dollars in urban agricultural research and extension services grants. She also succeeded in extending Historically Black College and University (HBCU) funding to the David A. Clarke Law School, pending in the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, as she did 10 years ago for UDC undergraduate programs. Other UDC graduate programs could not receive this funding because only terminal degree programs qualify for graduate HBCU funding.

Hometown D.C.'s Quarter to the World

Norton's bill for a circulating D.C. quarter coin was included in the omnibus appropriations bill, with critical assistance from D.C. appropriations chair José Serrano (D-NY). Norton got the bill passed by the House in four successive sessions, but each time it stalled in the Senate.

Norton Insists on Returning the Washington D.C. Postmark in Time for Holidays

Just in time for holiday mail, Norton got the U.S. Postal Service to restore the Washington, D.C. postmark on most D.C. mail, after learning earlier this month that the postmark was rarely used. Norton got agreement from Postal officials that the D.C. postmark would be restored at the Gaithersburg center, where outgoing D.C. mail has been processed since the anthrax attacks here. As the District approaches its first full House vote, Norton said that "the city must not lose any part of its unique identity as a world capital and hometown to 600,000 residents."

Gaining Equal Services for D.C. Prisoners

The first federal oversight for 7,000 D.C. inmates in federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) institutions since the city transferred control to the federal government 10 years ago brought the first changes for the prisoners. At a hearing, Norton cited unequal federal treatment of D.C. prisoners and got commitments to equalize services at the privately contracted Rivers Correctional Institution in North Carolina, as well as in programs in BOP facilities. Following the hearing, BOP also kept its commitment to issue regulations to open BOP's state-of-the-art 500 hour drug treatment program that reduces recidivism and unemployment to D.C. inmates. The long term Norton investigation thus far has included visits to Rivers and to the Cumberland, Maryland Federal Correctional Institution, as well as an unprecedented video conference between residents and Rivers inmates, initiating the first contact between the city and inmates since the transfer to BOP facilities.

Federal Relief Finally In for Two Major Priorities for the City

Long Sought Hazmat Trains Rerouting Accomplished

After 9/11, Norton carried the bill for public transportation security, but its passage became possible only this year, when the new majority took control and turned overdue attention to freight and public transportation hazards instead of only on air travel. This year's bill, signed into law, requires the Department of Homeland Security to issue regulations to reroute toxic substances around highly populated jurisdictions, such as the National Capital Region. The bill authorizes $4 billion in urgently needed grants to enhance security for mass transit, over-the-road buses, and freight and passenger rail. Norton also got an additional $20 million for upgrades and security at Union Station.

Norton Finds Opening to Halt Walter Reed Closure

The Congresswoman got language in the defense supplemental appropriations bill to prevent the closing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center located in Ward 4. The language mirrors the bill she introduced after Army officials testified at hearings about substandard outpatient care resulting in part from difficulty in hiring and retaining staff. Norton, who argued vigorously that the nation's premier military hospital should not be closed during war time and that funding is unavailable, believes that the huge costs required for building and for moving to Bethesda also will foreclose closing Walter Reed for many years.

Norton's Seniority Helps Achieve Environmental Priorities

First Wholesale Anacostia Cleaning Bill Enacted

One of Norton's top environmental priorities, the first comprehensive clean-up bill for the Anacostia River, was signed into law in November. The Anacostia Watershed Initiative gives the Army Corps of Engineers, the District and the affected Maryland and Virginia counties one year to develop a 10-year comprehensive plan for the restoration and protection of the Anacostia and its tributaries. Using the plan, the Congresswoman will seek federal funding for the District's combined sewer overflow problem that significantly imperils the Anacostia and significantly affects federal buildings in D.C., which are served by the city's sewer system. Norton got an additional $20 million authorized for Anacostia River clean-up and $35 million for combined sewer overflow in the bill.

Norton's Work Limits Noise Polluting Flights

Norton, the only regional member of the Aviation Subcommittee, worked with committee leadership to hold off additional National Airport flights that increase noise pollution and traffic. Instead, she helped fashion a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization for no increase in slots but instead an increase in competition by encouraging lower cost carriers to fill existing slots at National, where current airlines command premium prices, placing residents at a severe disadvantage.

A Big Start on Greening the Federal Sector

In her first year as subcommittee chair, Norton set greening the federal sector as one of her top priorities and got major provisions placed in the energy bill that became law this month, including a requirement for a 30 percent reduction in energy use in federal buildings in just seven years. Efforts by Norton to replace the coal burning Capitol power plant, the most significant source of emissions in the District, have been continually prevented by a few Senators from coal-producing states, but technologies to capture the carbon dioxide will be used. Federal building managers must analyze energy and water consumption, implement improvements within two years, and retrofit buildings to expand use of energy saving technologies. The Architect of the Capitol is required to green the Capitol complex by using energy efficient policies and other environmentally friendly measures throughout the complex. The bill also requires installation of a photovoltaic system for Department of Energy headquarters; studies for solar panels for government buildings and for a photovoltaic roof for the Rayburn House Office Building; and authorization for GSA to enter into 40-year rather than 25-year utility contracts because longer contracts bring cost savings.


Norton Uses Chair and Majority Status to Increase Oversight and Produce Bills

Norton Uses Her Gavel to Pass Bills and Renew Oversight

Norton was voted chair of the Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee by her Democratic colleagues upon becoming eligible this year. She used her seniority to choose this subcommittee over others because many of her economic development gains for D.C. have come from her work on this subcommittee. The Congresswoman has jurisdiction over three major government agencies, the General Services Administration, the Economic Development Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and over major tourist attractions, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and the U.S. Botanical Gardens.

The subcommittee moved major bills this year (further discussed below) and held a record 18 hearings in 2007 compared to the 12 held during the prior two years under the preceding majority. Norton held a field hearing on GSA leasing in the NOMA business district; four hearings with impact on local tourism and culture; seven hearings on emergency management; five on economic development; and a hearing on energy conservation. Among her most important hearings were five, which resulted in legislation: the NOMA field hearing; quickening Gulf Coast recovery; energy conversation in federal buildings; Federal Protective Services contracting; the naming of Emancipation Hall in the new Capitol Visitor Center to honor slaves who built the Capitol; as well as hearings on continuing FEMA mishaps and inadequacies; Smithsonian problems; and the Department of Homeland Security headquarters scheduled for the St. Elizabeths West Campus.

Norton Uses Gavel to Bar Redlining D.C. Neighborhoods for Federal Offices

Shortly after becoming chair of her subcommittee, Norton moved to keep federal agencies from "redlining" areas where the federal government has invested resources to accommodate offices, such as NOMA and M Street, SE near "The Yards." Following a site hearing in NOMA, she requires language in GSA documents restricting abuses by federal agencies that seek space only in areas downtown with the highest costs, at considerable excess expense to taxpayers. Norton also will hold a hearing in 2008 to test the effectiveness of the new language and to seek testimony on similar reforms to make the most cost-efficient use of available leasing.

Norton Reforms Security Guard Contracting

A Norton subcommittee investigation found that some private security guards contracted by the Federal Protective Service (FPS) to secure federal employees and buildings were not being paid on time because of DHS inefficiency. The Congresswoman also learned at a hearing that a contractor who missed paying guards, despite receipt of the government funds, had served five years in prison for money laundering and fraud. This testimony prompted her to introduce a bill, passed by the House, prohibiting FPS contracts with security guard services owned, controlled or operated directly or under proxy by an individual convicted of a felony. In addition, Norton required deadlines that brought timely resolution of agency payroll problems.

Norton Helps Raise Eastern Market from the Ashes

As chair of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Economic Development Administration, Norton has ensured that the District will receive a federal grant, due in 2008, and got a $131,000 earmark this year to help rebuild the popular, historic Eastern Market, following a devastating fire. Shortly after the fire, she brought members of Congress, including Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Jim Oberstar, to inspect the damage.

Norton Shepherds Katrina Gulf Coast Priority through House

As chair of the subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Norton had responsibility for a major Democratic priority, the Katrina and Rita Recovery Facilitation Act of 2007, to bring faster relief to New Orleans and the Gulf region. The bill, passed by the House, increases the federal contribution for public buildings and other infrastructure from 75 percent to 90 percent, makes retroactive many changes in the Public Assistance Program, and allows FEMA to use streamlined procedures both to resolve disputes and appeals for individual claims and to administer small projects valued up to $100,000 rather than $50,000.

Food Stamp "Hunger Strike" Brings Results

Norton's week-long "Food Stamp Challenge," with other members, limiting food and beverages to $21 led to House passage of a $4 billion increase in emergency food stamp programs, the first in 30 years.

Norton Helps Bring Equal Pay Relief

Norton worked with other Members on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, passed by the House, overturning a Supreme Court decision that limited damages under the Equal Pay Act, which Norton administered when she chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The House bill reaffirms the original congressional intent to permit damages for each pay period that equal pay is denied, not just beginning with the first pay period when the victim recognizes the discrimination.

Annual Federal Payment and Extra Funding for D.C. Programs Preserved

This year the Congresswoman had to struggle to contain cuts in federal payment funding due the District for its annual federal payment in Revitalization Act funds for the city's state operations and in other funding. All programs were funded with mostly minor reductions. The District received the following funding: DCTAG tuition program, $33 million; the combined sewer overflow system, $8 million; Union Station Intermodal Transportation Facility, $500,000; access roads for a new public waterfront park, part of Norton's Southeast Federal Center/The Yards project on M Street, $500,000; the Whitman-Walker Clinic, $150,000; South Capitol Street Corridor improvements that Norton worked with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to obtain, $500,000; street and parking improvements on South Capitol Street where a new disabled veterans memorial will be erected,
$1 million; for public schools, $13 million, for charter schools, $13 million, and for opportunity scholarships, $14.8 million; the forensic lab, $5 million; the D.C. central library, $9 million; D.C. public safety expenses at national parades and events, $3 million; National Guard retention and college access program, $352,000; D.C. Courts $224 million; Defender Services in Family Courts, $48 million; and for reentry of D.C. ex-offenders, $190 million.

Despite a significant reduction in available funds, Norton was able to get many earmarks in the omnibus appropriations bill or to get other members to join her in seeking her total $7.2 million in earmarks. She requests earmarks to fill gaps in public or private funding for local needs. These include: Eastern Market, $131,000; Menzfit, $23,500; Howard University College of Dentistry, $52,500; Center for Inspired Teaching, $52,500; Sitar Center for the Arts, $22,500; Excel Institute, $300,000; Earth Conservation Corps, $282,000; STEEED Youth Program, $150,000; Catalyst - Eastgate HOPE VI project, $132,000; ARISE Foundation, $281,000; Historic Congressional Cemetery, $625,000; Barracks Row, $500,000; Southeastern University, $300,000; International Youth Service and Development Corps, $600,000; Bright Beginnings Inc., $100,000; Everybody Wins! D.C. $100,000; Marriage Development Accounts in D.C., $1.8 million; Children's National Medical Center, $487,000; Unity Health Care, $312,000; Washington Hospital Center, $312,000; George Washington University for training of health professionals in D.C., $308,000; and George Washington University for the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, $370,000.

Cosponsoring Major Legislative Victories

Norton cosponsored too many important House passed bills to recount here, but among the most important were her priorities to: implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations; provide the first minimum wage increase in 10 years; reduce federal student loan interest rates; allow for union certification based on signed employee authorizations; restrict use of genetic information; protect journalists against compelled disclosure of sources; and establish a National Commission on Children and Disasters; as well as the hate crimes bill to add protections for sexual orientation to existing protections; the new energy bill; the Stem Cell Act; the Second Chance Act for reentry services for returning offenders; the Stop AIDS in Prison Act; the Stop Tuberculosis Now Act; the Water Quality Investment Act; the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act; the Vision Care for Kids Act; the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act; and the Global Poverty Act.