Norton Assured of Continued Public Access to White House and Security of Perimeter Fence After Meeting with Secret Service Director Clancy

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she was assured by U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy in a meeting today that the public has returned to and would retain access to the front of the White House fence after being sent back across Pennsylvania Avenue for a short period after a jumper successfully scaled the fence last week. Norton said that although there may be adjustments to the temporary spikes on the top of the fence, she continues to support the use of the temporary spikes because of the time it takes to develop a permanent change to improve security of the historic White House fence and because the temporary spikes have enabled the public to remain close to the fence. The Secret Service is working with the National Park Service, whose representatives were at Norton's meeting, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the Commission of Fine Arts on designs for a permanent change to the White House fence. Norton had been concerned that a jumper made it over the spiked fence, but urged officials to take their time in developing the permanent fence design to ensure it will deter future jumpers, while maintaining the historic and authentic look. Norton said she also understands the reason for the secondary security barrier of temporary bike racks in front of the fence, but requested that the agencies develop more historically-pleasing replacements for the bike racks, which have a makeshift quality to them.

Norton questioned Director Clancy about the Secret Service's ability to gather human intelligence on the ground in the form of agents and uniformed officers, considering that the sequester severely reduced the ranks of both agents and uniformed officers. Although last year's appropriations allowed the Secret Service add 150 uniformed officers, there was no net increase because of significant losses in prior years and ordinary retirements and departures. Norton was pleased, though, that the Secret Service plans to hire 12 classes of agents and 12 classes of officers in fiscal year 2016, which should begin to produce net gains in both, but it will take a number of years to get the agency back to full speed.

"I asked the Secret Service to regard the success of this skilled jumper as a test case to learn from and Director Clancy assured me that they are studying it closely in their after-action review," Norton said. "It was disheartening to see another jumper scale the fence, but, like the Secret Service, I am focused on the permanent fence in the process of being developed. We should ensure that final fence is tested by highly skilled athletes, such as those with advanced high jumping and climbing abilities."