Norton Priorities for DHS, Anacostia River & Education in Obama's Budget (2/1/2010)

Norton Priorities for DHS, Anacostia River and Education in Obama's Budget

February 1, 2010

Washington, DC-Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that more than $740 million for the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters at St. Elizabeths in Ward 8 in the president's 2011 budget ensured a steady flow of jobs to the District, in addition to last year's appropriations of more than a billion dollars for the 3-building DHS compound, including: more than $362 million will go toward planning, acquisition, construction, renovation and other related expenses; $267 million for DHS consolidation and development; $100 million for St. Elizabeths West Campus infrastructure; $8 million for the St. Elizabeths highway interchange near Bolling Air Force Base; $5 million for historic preservation mitigation; and $2 million to reimburse the District for work done on the federal St. Elizabeths site. "D.C. needs jobs and the D.C. economy badly needs a boost," Norton said. The DHS funds come at a time of 12% unemployment in D.C. with a new promise of jobs for some of the residents who lined up today at our Opportunities Center at the St. Elizabeths DHS site, which opened for business in Ward 8 today. Norton has worked tirelessly to ensure that many of the jobs for this mammoth federal project go to D.C. residents.

The president's budget also funds almost all of the Congresswoman's other D.C. priorities, including: $35 million for her D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), which enables D.C. students to receive up to $10,000 annually to attend any state university in the country, and $2,500 for private universities; $25 million for the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority to tackle the District's combined sewer overflow and Anacostia River pollution, a $5 million increase over last year; $72 million for D.C. schools; $2 million for the D.C. National Guard for college tuition assistance; $10 million for housing the homeless in the city; $5 million to support HIV/AIDS prevention; and $217 million for D.C.'s Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, among other appropriations. Also in the president's budget is the second $150 million installment for Metro under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act ("dedicated Metro funding bill"), which Norton worked hard to get through Congress.

Norton was delighted that the president, again, recommended that Congress not impose anti-home rule riders that would restrict the District's spending of its own locally raised money. After years of work, Norton got the most harmful riders removed from D.C.'s appropriations last year.