Press Releases
December 16, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that the fiscal year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, released today, is a major victory for the District of Columbia, containing a record $40 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), which is an increase of $10 million from last year’s level, has no new anti-home-rule riders, exempts D.C. from a shutdown in fiscal year 2017, provides the full $150 million for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) capital improvements, gives full funding to the Congresswoman’s major economic development project: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) complex at St. Elizabeths in Ward 8, addresses airplane noise, contains her amendment to combat racial profiling, permits sledding on Capitol Hill, and provides other critical funding for the District that she requested.
December 15, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said she was “relieved, candidly, as expected,” that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr.’s decision—that D.C.’s “good reason” requirement for issuing a concealed carry permit was unconstitutional—because the decision was outside his jurisdiction as a visiting judge.
December 14, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As the Library of Congress searches for a permanent Librarian of Congress, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) put equality for the District of Columbia on the new Librarian’s agenda by introducing a bill to require the Library of Congress to install the District’s seal in the stained-glass windows of the Thomas Jefferson Building’s Main Reading Room, which contains the seals of all states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the District seal.
December 11, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released a letter she sent yesterday to National Zoo Director Dennis Kelly criticizing the zoo's decision to change its morning hours, from opening the grounds at 6:00 a.m. to opening them at 8:00 a.m., without holding a public meeting beforehand.
December 10, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-DC) today called for continued focus on improving bicyclist and pedestrian safety in response to the troubling increase in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in recent years.
December 10, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As part of her continued efforts to address debilitating airplane noise in District of Columbia neighborhoods, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today cosponsored the Silent Skies Act (H.R. 4171), introduced by Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus Joseph Crowley (D-NY), which seeks to reduce airplane noise pollution by requiring airlines to begin stocking fleets with newer, quieter aircraft.
December 9, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today was one of the six House Members, along with House and Senate leadership, selected to offer readings at the Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States. In her reading, Norton told the story of the District of Columbia’s own journey to emancipation.
December 8, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today, at an Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR) hearing, criticized Republicans for putting all of their energy into protecting a dying coal mining industry unable to survive in today’s energy competition, even in the face of devastating statistics on harmful health effects and water contamination caused by coal mining.
December 8, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will help cut the ribbon of the newest MedStar Georgetown University Hospital KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic/Ronald McDonald Care Mobile today, Tuesday, December 7, 2015, at 12:00 p.m., at King Greenleaf Recreation Center (201 N St. SW).
December 7, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the Supreme Court’s refusal today to consider a challenge to a Chicago suburb’s ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines will help her defend the District of Columbia’s similar ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines, particularly in light of Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) bill to eliminate D.C.’s gun safety laws today being placed on the Senate calendar, which can be scheduled for floor time at any time by the Majority Leader.