On the Day of First Election Certification After the Insurrection of 1/6/2021, Norton Reiterates Call to Give D.C. Control Over D.C. National Guard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the following statement on the four-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and called for Congress to give the District of Columbia mayor control over the D.C. National Guard.
"Today President-Elect Trump will receive what President Biden, and D.C. residents, deserved on January 6, 2021: A peaceful, professional certification of a presidential election. Democrats, including Vice President Harris, will participate in the certification despite wishing the outcome had been different.
“Four years ago, we witnessed an unprecedented mob assault on the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to count the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. The attack was not only an attack on our democracy; it was also an attack on the District of Columbia, and particularly on the residential neighborhood surrounding the Capitol, where I live. The Capitol attack affected District residents and businesses for months, with fencing, road closures, and a massive police and military presence.
"On January 6th, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), funded by taxes paid by D.C. residents, voluntarily saved the lives of members of Congress and congressional staff, the Capitol and democracy itself, despite Congress continuing to deny those officers voting representation and full local self-government. But House Republicans thanked D.C. by voting against the D.C. statehood bill only a few months later.
"On this January 6th anniversary, Americans should remember that D.C., our capital, does not have full control over its own public safety agencies. The attack highlighted the importance of my longstanding bill to give the D.C. mayor control over its own National Guard. The governors of states and territories control their National Guards, while the president controls the D.C. National Guard. The events from four years ago, when D.C. Mayor Bowser’s request for additional support from the D.C. National Guard took nearly three hours to be fully approved by the Trump Administration, demonstrates the necessity of giving D.C. control over its own National Guard.
“In addition, the January 6th attack anniversary also provides a reminder that the president can federalize the MPD. I have introduced legislation that would repeal this authority.”
The House passed Norton’s bill to give the D.C. mayor control over the D.C. National Guard as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, but it was not included in the final enacted version of the NDAA.
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