Norton Named Honorary Fire Chief at Black History Month Event with D.C. Fire & EMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks from today’s Black History Month event where she was named honorary fire chief in honor of her grandfather, Richard Holmes, who was one of the first African Americans to serve in the D.C. Fire Department.
“Any discussion of black history and D.C., I believe, would be incomplete without looking to the future, and by that I mean looking at D.C. statehood,” Norton said. “D.C. residents still are not free and equal to the residents of the 50 states. People like you and my grandfather, who have dedicated so much to your community, deserve statehood. D.C. residents have fought and died in every war since the American Revolution. We deserve the full equality of citizenship that can only come through statehood, and that is why it is my top priority in Congress.”
Norton’s remarks follow as prepared for delivery.
Remarks of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
D.C. Fire and EMS event remarks
February 20, 2023
I am honored to be here with you today. I appreciate the work you do every day serving our community, and I especially appreciate what you are doing to recognize Black History Month.
I am pleased by the work that we did while Democrats were in the majority last Congress to help firefighters and first responders. For example, we enacted legislation to increase funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants, or SAFER Grant. We also increased funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program and the Urban Areas Security Initiative grant program. These are just some of the many things we have done to try to show our support for fire fighters and EMS employees.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that my grandfather Richard Holmes was one of the first African Americans to serve in the D.C. fire department. My grandfather became a firefighter in 1902, and his picture as a fireman hangs in my office today, a wonderful gift from the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. It is especially important to me, then, that I receive this recognition today as honorary fire chief.
I continue in Richard’s legacy of service to my hometown, the District of Columbia. I am a third generation Washingtonian. My own family has lived in D.C. since my great-grandfather, also named Richard Holmes, as an enslaved person, walked away from a plantation in Virginia and made his way to D.C. almost 200 years ago. He made it as far as D.C., a walk to freedom, but not to equal citizenship so far for our family.
Any discussion of black history and D.C., I believe, would be incomplete without looking to the future, and by that I mean looking at D.C. statehood. D.C. residents still are not free and equal to the residents of the 50 states. People like you and my grandfather, who have dedicated so much to your community, deserve statehood. D.C. residents have fought and died in every war since the American Revolution. We deserve the full equality of citizenship that can only come through statehood, and that is why it is my top priority in Congress.
In the last two Congresses, we made historic progress on D.C. statehood. In 2020, the House passed my bill to make D.C. a state, which was the first time in history either chamber of Congress had passed the D.C. statehood bill. The House passed it again in 2021. When I reintroduced the bill on the first day bills could be introduced this Congress, I did so with 165 original cosponsors, which was the most original cosponsors of any bill introduced that day. Since then, I have added more cosponsors, and we now have 184 cosponsors. The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Senator Tom Carper, was introduced this year with a record number of original cosponsors, 43. There are now 45 cosponsors, with Senator Carper making 46 supporters of the bill. This is historic progress for all of us.
Thank you again for having me here and thank you for this wonderful recognition.
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