Skip to main content

NORTON ASKS HALF DAY FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES JANUARY 19 - January 10, 2005

January 11, 2006
NORTON ASKS HALF DAY FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES JANUARY 19
January 10, 2005

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote the Director of Personnel Management, Kay Coles James, to ask that federal employees be dismissed at noon or 1 p.m. on January 19, the day before inauguration, to avoid massive convergence of federal employees with crowds attending the opening inauguration ceremony, causing “bottlenecks [that] would pose a significant danger, particularly to the movement of emergency vehicles.” The Norton letter follows.

January 10, 2005

The Honorable Kay Coles James
Director, Office of Personnel Management

Dear Director James,

I have been working with the Secret Service and other security officials to keep already serious congestion problems in the city from becoming worse as we prepare for the presidential inauguration. One of the most important changes that has emerged from our discussions is the shift in the January 19th closing of downtown streets (Constitution to E street NW between 15th and 17th street NW), where rush hour congestion is greatest because of the massive federal employee presence.

I asked the Secret Service not to close the area as planned at 9 a.m. on January 19th, trapping federal employees within the security zone. They have agreed instead to postpone the closing of these streets until 3:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the opening ceremony (4-6 p.m) on the Ellipse.

I am writing to recommend and to ask that federal employees be dismissed at noon or one o’clock p.m. to avoid huge traffic snarls that would be compounded because of the large crowds that will be attending the opening inaugural ceremony at the same time that rush hour begins for federal and other employees. The Secret Service has clearly gone as far as they can by delaying street closures until immediately before the ceremony, but there is nothing they can do about the fact that the ceremony begins at rush hour.

Street closures, particularly in that part of town at rush hour, would not only cause extreme inconvenience to regional commuters and D.C. residents, but the large number of vehicles caught in bottlenecks in this area also would pose a significant danger, particularly to the movement of emergency vehicles.

I would very much appreciate your consideration on this issue. I will call you later.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton