Norton Set Records in 113th Congress, Undaunted by New Republican Congress, Makes Predictions for 2015
Norton Set Records in 113th Congress, Undaunted by New Republican Congress, Makes Predictions for 2015
Norton Defies Unproductive Congress with Bills Enacted, Statehood Breakthroughs; Checkmated Anti-Home-Rule Riders; Perfect Score on Judges Confirmed; More Economic Development Projects; and D.C. Funding Despite Budget Cuts
Introduction: Unafraid of the Coming Republican Congress
Next year marks 25 years since Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was elected to Congress. She has spent only eight of those years in a House controlled by Democrats. Yet during those years she has found ways to work closely not only with fellow Democrats, but with Republicans, such as former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR) Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), winning major legislation for the District with Republicans in charge and often in the White House, as well. Among the most notable has been the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program (DCTAG), the $5,000 homebuyer tax credit and business tax incentives, and major economic development projects that are transforming the entire Southeast and Southwest Waterfront neighborhoods, NoMa, Ward 8 communities with the Department of Homeland Security headquarters, and Upper Northwest with the former Walter Reed site.
Thus, the Congresswoman is not fearful of the coming 114th Congress, where Republicans will control both chambers. She has seen worse. Norton does not underestimate the unprecedented far-right posture of today's Republicans. She is prepared for more attempts to undermine D.C. home rule, by bills and appropriations riders. However, by refusing to prejudge how Members will respond to D.C. matters, she has found allies who have helped her pass D.C. bills and on other D.C. matters, even as Norton has opposed them on national issues. The Congresswoman is particularly pleased that both incoming chairmen with D.C. jurisdiction – OGR Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) – have already publically supported home rule.
Our history of fighting back has not been in vain. Members of Congress have long been on notice that Norton and D.C. are prepared to fight to protect home rule not only on the House floor, in the Senate, and in the streets of Washington, but also in their districts and states. Norton has used various forms of communication to inform the constituents of Members who spend their time not working for them, but meddling in D.C.'s local affairs.
The way for D.C. to begin the 114th Congress is to assume the best and be prepared to fight the worst. There is nothing to fear now. There is much work to do to increase respect for the rights of D.C. residents as full and equal American citizens.
- Getting Bills Enacted into Law Despite Historically Unproductive Congress
#1 for most bills enacted by House Democrats
Tied for #2 in most bills enacted by Democratic House and Senate Members
Tied for #3 in bills enacted by House Republicans and Democrats
Tied for #4 in most bills enacted in House and Senate
Members of the Congress rarely, if ever, have their own bills enacted into law. However, Norton was a leader in authored legislation for the 113th Congress and had three of her 67 bills enacted into law. In the 112th Congress, Norton was also a leader, with 54 bills introduced and two enacted.
Besides traditional bills affecting the nation, Norton particularly looked for opportunities to strengthen the District. Her legislation proved vital to the District. Her two Chief Financial Officer (CFO) bills were indispensable to preventing serious disruptions in District operations – allowing the District to appoint an interim CFO if the CFO resigns, as Natwar Gandhi did, dies, or is otherwise unable to perform the duties of the office, and allowing the District to increase the CFO's salary, necessary because of the difficulty the District had recruiting candidates with a salary many years out of date. Norton also got her bill enacted to reauthorize the U.S. Parole Commission (USPC) introduced by members of the House Judiciary Committee, the committee of jurisdiction, and negotiated its five-year reauthorization, the longest reauthorization period yet. The bill is a matter of great importance to the District because the USPC has jurisdiction over D.C. Code felons. Norton legislation enacted named the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters, in Ward 8, for the Coast Guard's only Medal of Honor recipient, as it opened in 2013, to house 3,700 Coast Guard civilian and military employees.
Norton Cosponsored 795 bills in the 113th Congress, the Second Most of Any Member of the House
Norton also introduced promising national legislation. Among them were bills to collect data on sexual assaults on airplanes to assist law enforcement, which she expects to move next year; to strip the National Football League of its tax-exempt status as long as it promotes the Washington football team name (also introduced in the Senate); to require employers seeking federal contracts to demonstrate compliance with workplace protection laws (ROSIE Act); and to ensure due process for federal employees.
- Making History: Unprecedented Momentum for D.C. Statehood
The Congresswoman's first bill in the 114th Congress will be the New Columbia Admission Act, to make D.C. the 51st State. Norton set important statehood records in the 113th Congress, setting the stage for the growth of a newly invigorated statehood movement. She got the first-ever Senate hearing on statehood and the first congressional hearing on statehood in more than 20 years, putting D.C. statehood squarely on the congressional agenda. She also set the record for House and Senate cosponsors of the bill, with 112 in the House and 21 in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who rarely cosponsors bills, as well as the three other top Senate Democratic leaders. Norton also got President Obama to endorse D.C. statehood before the statehood hearing, and later Attorney General Eric Holder, as well. Norton also got D.C.'s first-ever statue, depicting Frederick Douglass, moved into the Capitol, giving D.C. the same recognition as the states. At the statue unveiling, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would cosponsor Norton's D.C. statehood bill, even though Majority Leaders rarely cosponsor bills. A few weeks after the hearing, Norton gave keynote remarks at a D.C. Statehood Strategy Summit, the first statehood gathering since the hearing.
She will focus in the next Congress on using the statehood bill and hearing to help grow a stronger statehood presence in D.C. and help develop a nationwide strategy to take her statehood bill to the next level in Congress.
What did the press say about D.C. statehood?
WaPo Editorial Board, 9/12/14: "In truth, law makers need look no further than the title of the hearing – "Equality for the District of Columbia" – to understand…That 650,000 people who live in the nation's capital are denied their full rights as U.S. citizens…a travesty that cannot be condoned and should not be continued."
WaPo Editorial Board, 9/18/14: "We have not abandoned our support for change, nor our regard for how Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and other advocates have championed the cause unflaggingly."
- Norton Moves D.C. Closer to Free and Equal
President and Senate Sign-On for Budget and Legislative Autonomy
While the statehood hearing made statehood a live issue in Congress, Norton also got traction on key elements of statehood. At Norton's request, the President's FY 15 budget and the Senate's FY 15 D.C. Appropriations bill granted the District budget and legislative autonomy, the first-ever budget and appropriations bill to grant both. Norton also got budget and legislative autonomy introduced in the Senate as stand-alone bills; the first-ever Senate legislative autonomy bill.
This Congress, she found seemingly unlikely Republican allies for budget autonomy, including Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA), who both first endorsed budget autonomy last Congress.
Norton predicts respect for home rule from the new chairs with D.C. jurisdiction, and they have said as much already. She has already spoken with the new House chair and written the Senate committee chair, who she expects to meet with early next year. (See introduction)
Exempting D.C. from Shutdowns
For the first time, Norton got D.C. exempted from shutdowns for an entire fiscal year (2015). Norton also got the FY15 Senate D.C. Appropriations bill to permanently exempt D.C. from shutdowns, but the final FY 2015 omnibus spending bill (Omnibus), signed by President Obama, exempts D.C. from shutdowns in FY16. Having gotten an agreement on shutdowns in both chambers, she will seek permanent shutdown legislation in 2015.
Budget Autonomy Referendum Saved
Norton also kept D.C.'s budget autonomy referendum from being overturned in Congress. She got House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to refrain from joining a House brief calling the referendum illegal in a lawsuit against the referendum. A federal district court struck down the referendum, but an appeal is pending, and Congress has taken no action.
What did the press say about D.C.'s autonomy?
WaPo, Editorial Board, 4/16/14: "[T]he District should have the ability enjoyed by every other local jurisdiction to spend its locally raised tax
dollars without approval or interference from Capitol Hill."
IV. Defeating Anti-Home-Rule Riders
The Future of Marijuana Reform
House Republicans attached new D.C. riders -- marijuana and guns -- to their D.C. Appropriations bill, and President Obama's Statement of Administration Policy on the bill said the administration "strongly opposes" the marijuana rider as a violation of the "principle of States' rights and of District home rule." (The gun rider was added to the bill after the President's statement, and Norton kept the rider out of the Omnibus.) She was able to get bipartisan Members of the House to hold a press conference with her in support of D.C.'s right to decriminalize or legalize marijuana, through Initiative 71 (Initiative), supported by 70 percent of the voters. Although a version marijuana rider was included in the Omnibus, which the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee said blocked legalization, Norton found a flaw in the rider's language. The House's original version had been changed from D.C. may not "enact or carry out any law rule or regulation" to legalize marijuana to D.C. cannot "enact any law, rule, or regulation." in the Omnibus. However, the Initiative has already been enacted and requires no additional enactments to implement it. Norton's interpretation that the Omnibus does not prohibit D.C. from implementing the Initiative was later supported by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY), and D.C. Subcommittee Ranking Member Jose Serrano (D-NY).
Norton predicts that non-partisan authorities will confirm her interpretation. If Norton's interpretation is correct Republicans will be forced to try to block the Initiative on their watch and encounter states that have implemented some form of marijuana reform – 23 states have legalized medical marijuana, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana and four states have marijuana legalizations laws.
Defending D.C.'s Gun Safety Laws
Norton was successful in keeping the House-passed D.C. gun rider – the most dangerous of the two new House riders – out of the Omnibus. Representative Thomas Massie's (R-KY) gun rider would have made blocked D.C. from enforcing local gun laws, including its ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines.
For the third-straight year, Norton also got Representative Phil Gingrey's (R-GA) House-passed anti-home-rule gun resolution removed from the final National Defense Authorization Act. The Gingrey amendment, passed as an amendment to the House version of the bill, expressed the sense of Congress that active duty military personnel in their private capacity should be exempt from the gun safety laws of the District of Columbia, but not elsewhere. Although a resolution does not have the force of law, Norton wanted to defeat all anti-home-rule gun bills while Democrats were in power to assist her.
Norton is preparing for anti-home-rule gun bills that could come in the 114th Congress.
What did the press say about D.C.'s marijuana laws?
New York Times, Editorial Board, 10/6/14: "Decades of arresting people for buying, selling, and using marijuana have hurt more than helped society, and minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the harsh criminal penalties of prohibition."
What did the press say about House passage of anti-home-rule marijuana and gun laws?
Kentucky's Courier-Journal, Editorial Board, 7/24/14: "…Ms. Norton could only complain about the gun measure but not vote against it. That sounds like taxation without representation, something anyone who purports to love liberty ought to oppose."
WaPo, Editorial Board, 7/20/14: "House Republicans who profess an allegiance to local democracy outdid themselves in the hypocrisy department last week as they trampled on the District's right to home rule. Not content with measures that restrict the District from using its locally raised tax dollars for abortions for low-income women, the Republican-controlled House also voted to roll back the city's decriminalization of marijuana and gut city gun laws."
V. Building a Bustling D.C. Economy: Norton's Bills Generate Economic Growth
Norton was elected ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, the most important Transportation and Infrastructure Committee subcommittee. It has the largest authorized funds among the subcommittees. This position puts her in good standing to increase D.C.'s economic development and project funding.
Against the Odds, DHS Constructions Keeps Growing
Despite budget cuts that have slowed construction, Norton has kept getting funds to build the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters complex in Ward 8. For FY 2014, Norton got an additional $144 million for operations and for rehabilitation of the main Center Building, to house the office of the Secretary and his 700 top employees. Construction contractors were recently selected. Norton also got $188 million included in the omnibus for FY 15.
Norton predicts that DHS will be completed by 2026.
Coast Guard Headquarters
The U.S. Coast Guard headquarters, which was named by Norton's bill, marked the first federal building east of the Anacostia River. It opened in 2013.
Southwest Waterfront Construction Begins
The Southwest Waterfront redevelopment, known as "The Wharf," broke ground in 2014, after Norton got her bill through two House committees and worked with Republican leadership to get it enacted, in 2012.
In 2015, D.C. will see the first elements of the project – a new pier extending 450 feet into the Washington Channel. The enormous two-phase Wharf project will create thousands of permanent jobs for D.C. residents, generate $47 million in tax revenue every year, and create new waterfront housing, shops, parks and docks, all revitalizing the city's Southwest quadrant. The developers have announced a public square, complete with picnic benches and green spaces, at the Wharf to be named "Eleanor Holmes Norton Plaza."
A New Hotel Takes Shapes from the Old Post Office Building
Norton broke ground on the Old Post Office Building redevelopment, a result of her 2008 law. The redevelopment effort will turn the 114-year-old building into D.C.'s first luxury hotel, bringing 700 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs. The project will yield $100 million in tax revenue over ten years for the city. Norton is working with the General Services Administration and the developer on a 2015 plan for hiring D.C. residents.
The Yards Becomes a New Neighborhood
The Southeast Waterfront redevelopment, known as "The Yards," continues at a rapid pace, due to a 2000 Norton law that authorized private redevelopment of federal land for the first time. When fully developed, the site, which was an eye sore of dilapidated Navy Yard structures, will generate billions in revenue for the city. Nineteen restaurants and 15 retail shops opened in 2013 and seven restaurants and seven retail shops opened in 2014, including a Harris Teeter grocery store. Six more developments are planned for 2015.
First Segment of Walter Reed Transferred to D.C.
This year, Norton got the first federal property at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) transferred to the District. Building 18 will be the home of a new fire and emergency station Ward 4 has long needed to reduce response times for the northernmost section of the District, enhancing public safety. Once D.C. receives its entire portion of WRAMC, this historic property will transform upper Georgia Avenue with mixed-use development, including housing and the neighborhood's first extensive commercial amenities. Norton earlier got an increase in acres available for negotiation by the D.C. government and, this year, she ensured in the NDAA that 67 of the 110-acre site will be occupied by the District. Earlier this year, the State Department tried to get 13 acres of D.C. land in exchange for land Children's National Medical Center wanted because it contains a state-of-the-art laboratory. Norton saved the full portion of D.C.'s land and ensured that an entity like Children's will get the 13-acre state-of-the-art laboratory.
World War I Memorial
Norton laid to rest any possible future nationalization of D.C.'s War Memorial with compromise language she negotiated in the NDAA that formally re-designates Pershing Park, a federal park, as a national World War I Memorial, and preserves D.C.'s War Memorial for D.C. veterans only.
VI. Despite Sequestration and Partisan Gridlock, Norton Funds D.C.'s Priorities
Considering that Democrats lost the Senate in the November elections, Norton fought especially hard to get as much funding as possible for D.C. in appropriations legislation.
Helps Ensure D.C.'s Transportation Funding
As ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, which writes the largest House transportation funding bill, Norton's leadership helped D.C. and the region get the full $150 million installment for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in the Omnibus. This is the sixth installment for WMATA's 10-year, $1.5 billion authorization for capital improvements included in the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act, which Norton helped champion as a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Norton expects to increase D.C.'s funding for roads, bridges, WMATA, and buses in the surface transportation reauthorization bill due in 2015.
DCTAG Remains Funded
When appropriators told Norton that DCTAG was at risk after the D.C. Council passed a college scholarship program, she moved to shore up DCTAG. She began by writing to President Obama and got a $10 million in increased funding in his FY 15 budget, bringing DCTAG to $40 million. She then urged appropriators to fully fund DCTAG and got $30 million in the Omnibus, – no decrease from the year before. However, Norton is already gearing up for another fight next year to ensure DCTAG is funded, given the new Republican majority in the Senate, where Democrats have been her best partners.
Anacostia River Priority
Norton's work on Anacostia River cleanup is dependent, in part, on funding for D.C. Water's Clean Rivers program to combat combined sewer overflow. She was the lead sponsor of the Anacostia Watershed Initiative, her bill that was enacted with four regional co-sponsors in 2007, authorizing the Army Corps to develop a comprehensive plan for cleaning up the Anacostia River. This year, she got $14 million for the Clean Rivers program in the Omnibus the same as in the prior year. She will press the federal government, the largest D.C. Water rate-payer, to increase its funding next year, in light of the recent water main break in a major D.C. sewer pipe that caused flooding and Metro closures and delays.
All Norton's High-Quality D.C. Judges Confirmed
In a win for D.C.'s federal judicial system, all ten of Norton's recommendations to President Obama for federal district court judges here have been confirmed by the Senate. President Obama, like President Clinton, granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District.
VII. Serving Constituents and Keeping D.C. Informed of the Good and Bad from Congress
Norton found new and expanded ways to reach neighborhoods across the city. This year, she hosted 20 Government-to-Go events at grocery stores, D.C. government locations, such as libraries, and at non-profit organizations, such as senior centers, which brought caseworkers and information on federal matters to residents who cannot come to her District Office. She held two town halls and six roundtables on national and local legislative issues. She participated in eight Norton in Your Neighborhood community events, in conjunction with ANCs and community groups, to discuss congressional issues.
Tours of House Floor, Top Norton Community Events
Norton led the first six tours of the House floor for D.C. groups ranging from schools to community groups. Norton will offer the tour to local D.C. media and will triple the number of D.C. groups to tour the House floor. To schedule a special tour of the House floor, D.C.'s first statue in Congress, and other significant congressional sites for your group, contact Norton's office at 202-225-8050 or visit www.Norton.House.Gov.
Events for D.C.'s Diverse Population
Norton offered a rich variety of special events for D.C. residents drawn from important D.C. sectors, including a Tax Fair for tax preparation services; a Capitol Hill "Ask Me About D.C. Event" event for Members of the House and Senate and staff showcasing D.C.'s tourist sites; a Job Fair; a Small Business Fair; a Congressional Art Competition for high school students; a Service Academy Night; a Seniors Legislative Day; a National Dance Day; and two Black Men and Boys Commission and Caucus Hearings.
Norton's Town Halls, Roundtables, and NIYNs Produce Results
4 Town Halls:
•National Park Service Town Hallwith NPS, National Mall officials, and Smithsonian officials
-NPS agreed to consider food trucks on the National Mall
•Two CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project Community Events
-Got increased opportunities for community oversight, questions, and transparency.
•Capital Parks East Town Hallwith NPS, Shepard Parkway Committee, and Washington Parks and People
-U.S. Park Police cracked down on crime.
6 Roundtables:
•WMATA Roundtablewith Top WMATA Officials and Transportation Union Leaders
-Roundtable showed most safety steps taken since 2009 crash; testimony helped Norton to get the $150 million WMATA authorization.
•DCTAG Roundtable with Residents
-Got information that helped Norton get appropriators to give DCTAG $30 million in Omnibus.
•Postal Roundtable with D.C. Postmaster General, Postal Union Officials, and Residents
-Agreed on recommendations to improve local service: quarterly Postmaster meetings with ANCs; an automated phone system for residents who want only routine information, freeing up customer service representatives to handle substantive issues; create the position of D.C. Postal Ombudsman to solve recurring customer service problems; and get State Department assistance in processing passports using postal office personnel.
•Union Station Roundtable with NPS, Union Station Officials, and City Officials.
-Union Station officials began work that is reducing traffic congestion.
•Immigration Roundtable/Hispanic Heritage Monthwith City and Federal Officials, Latino Community Leaders, and Educators
-Panel offered information for families of D.C. residents directly affected by the surge in unaccompanied children from Central America.
•Unemployment Insurance Roundtable
-Real stories soon to go online in continuing effort to get Congress to pass legislation extending long-term unemployment insurance.
8 Norton in Your Neighborhood (NIYN):
• Parkside Civic Association
• Bates Area Civic Association
• Pleasant Plains Civic Association
• Brookland Civic Association
• Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence
• Brightwood Park Civic Association
• Renaissance Adult Day Health Care Center
• ANC4B Community Meeting
D.C. community and civic organizations, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, and other groups can sponsor a Norton in Your Neighborhood. Visit https://norton.house.gov or call Norton's district office at (202) 408-9041.