Norton, Comer Announce Senate Committee Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Allow RFK Stadium Campus to Be Put to Productive Use for D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced that the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources marked up and passed their bill to direct the federal government to transfer administrative jurisdiction over the RFK Stadium campus to D.C. for up to 99 years. If passed by the full Senate and signed into law by the president, the bill would allow D.C. to use the land for stadium redevelopment, commercial and residential development, or other public purposes. Norton has worked on prior versions of the bill aimed at revitalizing RFK Stadium campus, which at 174 acres is the largest unused track of land in the District, since 2017. This is the first time any version of the legislation has been considered by the Senate.

“I am pleased our bill advanced out of Senate committee,” Norton said. “This bill is a win-win for the federal and D.C. governments. As the Department of the Interior testified, this bill would allow D.C. to transform the campus from ‘acres of asphalt to a complex focused on community sports, recreation, park space and cultural amenities’ and would ‘guarantee public access to a sizeable amount of park land and outdoor recreation areas.’ At the same time, this bill would allow D.C. to generate significant revenue for D.C. I thank Chair Comer for partnering with me on this bill and look forward to its consideration on the Senate floor.”

“The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act will help pave a path for the nation’s capital to create meaningful new jobs, add millions in city revenue, and transform the city’s vacant RFK waterfront into a lively destination for all Americans,” Comer said. “The bill passed the House earlier this year and continues to receive overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to advance this legislation to the President’s desk this year.”

The bill would require D.C. to reserve 30 percent of the campus for parks and open space and prohibit D.C. from building along the waterfront.

Throughout her career in Congress, Norton has prioritized transferring unused federal land to D.C. or the private sector, enabling the redevelopment of neighborhoods, generating tax revenue and bringing much-needed space to the District.

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