Norton Gets $1Billion for DHS, $39 Million for Inauguration Paybacks & Millions More (2/24/09)
Norton Gets $1 Billion for DHS, $39 Million for Inauguration Payback and Millions More in Infrastructure Funds for D.C. Economy and Jobs
February 24, 2009
Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said this evening that $331 million revealed today in the Omnibus appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters on the St. Elizabeths West Campus means that the project now has more than $1 billion. The stimulus package released this month contained an additional $650 million for the project. Norton, who chairs the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, which has oversight over the DHS construction, said, "These new funds put us well beyond the first building for DHS by funding the Ward 8 construction for at least one-third of what is required to house four agencies at the DHS compound on St. Elizabeth's West Campus." She added, "This is wonderful news for the District of Columbia, especially Ward 8, because the appropriated amount guarantees many years of construction jobs and stimulus for the D.C. economy during the hardest economic period in recent memory." A Norton-GSA sponsored forum is scheduled for this Tuesday and Wednesday to help residents qualify to bid for contracts for DHS, for the $620 million in D.C. stimulus funding and for the federal stimulus construction projects under Norton's subcommittee jurisdiction.
In another important and gratifying win, Norton said that the District received $39 million to help the city cover security costs for the Presidential Inauguration and other national events. Also gratifying to Norton was the $35 million for the Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DC TAG), which provides up to $10,000 per academic year to District students attending public colleges nationwide and funding for private colleges here. The District also received $54 million for school improvements and $20 million to improve the District's public school system.
Although Norton is still compiling the list of her earmarks in the bill, among the most important was $475,000 to help make Union Station a true intermodal facility, including locating intercity buses there, and $2.85 million in infrastructure spending for the development of a disabled veterans memorial, including parking for the disabled, alteration of streets and other construction, which will help create jobs in the District during the economic crisis, and $237,500 for the construction and renovation of a battered women's shelter at My Sister's Place.