Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, on the International Day of Peace, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a resolution supporting the designation of September 2023 as national “Peace Month” and calling on Congress to take action to promote peace, at home and abroad. The idea for the resolution came from the Helpful Potato Bugs, a class of second-grade students at Horace Mann Elementary School in the District of Columbia. In 2018, the students sent Norton a handwritten note, adorned with peace signs, expressing their desire to “help make the world a peaceful place” and for “all Americans to be nice, have no conflicts, and be very peaceful.” Norton has been introducing resolutions supporting the designation of September as Peace Month since then.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) celebrated the safe return home of D.C. resident Emad Shargi, who had been detained in Iran since 2018. Norton wrote Secretary of State Blinken twice on Shargi's behalf, received a State Department briefing on his case in July 2022, and published a Congressional Record statement to coincide with Shargi's birthday in September 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her statement, as prepared for delivery, for today’s markup of Chairman James Comer (R-KY)’s and Norton’s bill to direct the federal government to lease the RFK campus to D.C. for 99 years, allowing D.C. to use the land for stadium redevelopment, commercial and residential development, or other public purposes. Norton previously introduced legislation to allow the federal government to sell the land, which at 174 acres is the largest unused track of land in the District, to D.C. for fair market value.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced her bill to exempt from federal government shutdowns agencies that have jurisdiction only over District of Columbia matters but are exclusively or primarily funded by the federal government and not under the District's control. Norton emphasized that these agencies are essentially D.C. agencies that have nothing to do with federal issues or congressional shutdown matters. They provide critical criminal and civil justice services to the District and should continue to function during a federal government shutdown to protect the safety and well-being of D.C. residents.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a resolution supporting the designation of Saturday, September 16, 2023, as National Dance Day. In 2010, Norton partnered with "So You Think You Can Dance" co-creator Nigel Lythgoe to launch the first National Dance Day with inaugural celebrations on the National Mall and in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced her United States Commission on an Open Society with Security Act to establish a national commission of experts from a broad spectrum of disciplines to investigate how to maintain our democratic traditions of openness and access while responding adequately to the security threats posed by terrorism. The bill authorizes a 21-member commission, with the President designating nine members and the House and Senate leadership each designating six members, to investigate and offer recommendations on the balance between public access to and security in Federal buildings and other Federal property. Members of the commission must come from diverse fields, including security, architecture, technology, sociology, psychology, military, city planning, business, engineering and history. Norton began working on the bill after Pennsylvania Avenue was closed and ugly security barriers first began to emerge in the District of Columbia following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The events of 9/11 and the attack on the Capitol have made this bill even more urgent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called on District of Columbia residents to remember the children, teachers, and others lost in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the attacks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission (Commission) is accepting applications for an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Beryl A. Howell, whom Norton recommended to President Obama, will take senior status in February 2024, creating an upcoming vacancy.