Norton to Be Briefed on D.C. National Security by FBI’s Washington Field Office, Tomorrow, and by DHS Secretary Johnson and FBI Director Comey, Today

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that she will be personally briefed tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office Assistant Director Paul Abbate on security in the District of Columbia following the terrorist attacks in Paris this past weekend and a new threat made by ISIL specifically against the nation's capital. Norton will also attend a classified national security briefing for Members of Congress today at 5:30 p.m. with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson, FBI Director James Comey, and officials from the Departments of Defense and State. Although, according to security officials, there is currently no credible intelligence concerning danger to the District from ISIL or other terrorist operations, Norton said she has been assured that all the necessary precautions have been taken, particularly in light of the specific threat made to D.C. She cautioned that ISIL not only spreads terror through actual violence, it wages terror by naming specific jurisdictions.

"I urge District residents to continue going about their daily lives, despite the new threats from ISIL," Norton said. "ISIL shall have accomplished its mission of spreading terror if an entire city shrinks from its daily activities without a credible indication of a threat. At this time, there is no reasonable precaution residents can take, or that we have learned is necessary to take.

"It is important to recognize that ISIL may have well pivoted to waging terror on jurisdictions outside of its territory in order to distract from its recent losses on the battlefield. As President Obama indicated at the G-20 summit in Turkey yesterday, the U.S. and its allies have recently made significant progress in pushing back ISIL in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.-led airpower, recently liberated Sinjar, and Iraqi forces are finally now making progress in the fight to take back Ramadi, a key strategic city that ISIL captured several months ago. In Syria, ISIL has been pushed back from much of the areas bordering Turkey, and allied forces on the ground are making good headway in cutting off supply lines to Raqqa, one of ISIL's most important strongholds. When ISIL loses territory, it loses face, and must find ways to focus on continuing to build strength. For ISIL, that has been much easier to do in Europe than in the U.S. because of Europe's proximity to turmoil in the Middle East. The United States is not a safe harbor, but it does not have the same exposure as Europe.

"In the District, we are accustomed to being a major target, but our city of 650,000 residents and 20 million tourist annually has always maintained balance between openness and security ever since 9/11. This is not the time to succumb to the fear spread by terrorism. In the meantime, I will keep residents fully informed."