Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that she has received assurances from Hope Village, the men’s residential reentry center, or halfway house, in the District of Columbia, that it is providing safe conditions for its residents during the coronavirus. However, Norton has asked the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which has jurisdiction over BOP inmates at halfway houses, including those at Hope Village, to conduct an unannounced site visit. The assurances from Hope Village came the same day Norton sent a letter to BOP Director Michael Carvajal concerning complaints she received about conditions at Hope Village, such as a lack of soap, during the coronavirus.

Washington, D.C. —Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) expressed profound disappointment that the third coronavirus bill, which was signed into law today, treats the District of Columbia as a territory instead of as a state in the state stabilization fund, depriving the District of $750 million.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that the third coronavirus response bill, which the Senate passed last night and the House is expected to pass tomorrow, defies longstanding precedents in treating the District of Columbia as a territory instead of as a state for federal funding under the $150 billion coronavirus relief fund for states and territories, depriving D.C. of an estimated $750 million. Norton tried to get the bill amended after a draft was released yesterday morning, but Republicans, who refused to do so, led the bill in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the third coronavirus response bill, which is expected to pass the Senate today, would deprive the District of Columbia of hundreds of millions of dollars because it treats D.C. as a territory instead of as a state under the $150 billion relief fund for states and territories established by the bill. She has been in touch with Senate Democrats to seek the usual treatment of D.C. as a state for federal funding.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To encourage District of Columbia residents to continue to seek assistance and information from her office as normal during the coronavirus crisis, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released actions taken by her office during its first week of teleworking. Norton is a member of the Congressional Coronavirus Task Force to help keep Congress ahead of the curve and to obtain the latest information.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act, the phase three coronavirus response bill introduced by House Democrats yesterday, provides the District of Columbia $11 million in supplemental fiscal year 2020 emergency planning and security funding for costs associated with the federal presence in the nation's capital.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to apply the First Step Act (Act), which was signed into law in 2018, to D.C. Code felons, especially in light of the coronavirus. The Act provides new best practices, such as increased access to compassionate release, for inmates in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Norton worked to get included in the Act a provision making clear that it applies to individuals convicted of felonies under D.C. law, the only local inmates housed by BOP, not only inmates convicted under federal law. However, despite repeated requests by Norton, DOJ and BOP have yet to apply the Act to D.C. Code felons.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to the Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court, Robert Morin, and the U.S. Marshal for the D.C. Superior Court, Anthony Dixon, expressing her concerns about reported practices that could lead to the transmission of the coronavirus at the Superior Court. Norton said that she was informed last night of troubling practices used by the marshals while handling inmates that could possibly spread the coronavirus to other detainees, marshals, court personnel and the public.