Norton’s Women Who Worked on the Home Front World War II Memorial Act Will Be Marked Up Wednesday
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that her bill to authorize the establishment of a memorial on federal land in the nation's capital to honor the women who worked on the home front during World War II will be marked up by the House Natural Resources Committee tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11th at 10 a.m. The idea behind Norton's bill, the Women Who Worked on the Home Front World War II Memorial Act, originated with 17-year-old D.C. resident Raya Kenney, who wanted to honor the 18 million American women who kept the home front running and performed tasks at home that were previously assigned to men during World War II. Norton said that women have largely been ignored in the memorials on federal land in the nation's capital, even though they played key roles in World War II.
"I very much appreciate that the committee is advancing my Women Who Worked on the Home Front World War II Memorial Act during Women's History Month," Norton said. "Thank you Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) for your efforts that have brought this bill forward and for helping women to be better represented in our monuments here in the nation's capital." The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held a hearing on this bill on December 4, 2019, and the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission expressed its support for the bill after it had a hearing on the bill on February 11, 2020.