Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act today to permit the use of marijuana in federally assisted housing, including public housing and Section 8 housing, in compliance with the marijuana laws of the state (including the District of Columbia) where the property is located. Under current federal law, users of drugs that are illegal under federal law, including marijuana, are prohibited from being admitted into federally assisted housing. Federal law also allows landlords to evict residents of federally assisted housing for illegal drug use. Adult-use marijuana, medical marijuana or both are currently legal in D.C., New Jersey and 37 other states, and over 90 percent of Americans support legalized medical marijuana.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for cosponsoring Norton’s D.C. statehood bill and for Pelosi’s history of championing D.C. home rule. “Speaker Pelosi is perhaps the most important and effective member of the House in history,” Norton said. “No Speaker or Minority Leader has ever fought harder to give D.C. residents voting representation in Congress, full home rule, or to ensure D.C. is treated like a state in all respects, and by cosponsoring my D.C. statehood bill, she’s demonstrating her continued support for D.C. residents’ right to self-governance. As she has said publicly many times, these issues are in her blood, given her father’s work in Congress, and she has fought both publicly and behind the scenes on behalf of D.C. residents.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) reintroduced their Flood Prevention Act, which would amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) to include the District of Columbia in the definition of a coastal state, making D.C. eligible for federal coastal zone management funding and giving it oversight authority over federally issued permits, facilities, and actions that affect the coastal waters of the District.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that she has joined the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services of the Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR). Norton, the second most-senior Democrat on the Committee, now sits on three Oversight subcommittees: Government Operations and the Federal Workforce; Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs; and Health Care and Financial Services.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a resolution calling on Congress to condemn voter suppression laws enacted by the states.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After D.C. received a rare snowfall which accumulated enough to close schools and federal government offices, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a statement today reminding D.C. residents that her annual provision in the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill allows sledding on Capitol Hill. Capitol Police confirmed this morning that the Capitol grounds are open to sledders of all ages.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called on Congress to pass her District of Columbia statehood bill (H.R. 51) and other important voting rights legislation. Norton’s bill would give D.C. full local self-government, a cause Dr. King championed, and voting representation in Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill to place the official seal of the District of Columbia alongside seals of the states in the Library of Congress. Currently, the stained-glass windows in the historic building portray the seals of all states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the D.C. seal, even though it was readily available at the time. The bill is part of Norton’s “Free and Equal D.C.” series of bills.