Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, said today that the District of Columbia and the states will be relieved that a new House Ways and Means Committee bill funds the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through May 2015, avoiding rationing of transportation and infrastructure funds, but disappointed that the short-term reauthorization leaves them unable to dig into the backlog of significant projects that require the standard six-year reauthorization.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today made the following statement on the passing of Henry Minton Francis, Sr., a fifth-generation Washingtonian who was a graduate of Dunbar High School and the 8^th African-American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, on July 7, 2014 at the age of 93.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a letter Norton sent today to the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding contract workers, many of them D.C. residents, who were fired because of a new CAO employment policy that requires all vendors to undergo a background check before obtaining identification badges. Many of these previously employed workers were unable to obtain ID badges due to a prior criminal history.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released today a letter sent to officials at the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) urging them develop a new plan to address traffic congestion in front of Union Station. Norton's office has received complaints from residents, Members of Congress, congressional staff and bus companies that they are missing trains or having to get out of taxis and other vehicles in order to make trains.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Prison Telecomm Reform Working Group, spoke today before a follow-up panel led by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the FCC's new Inmate Calling Services (ICS) reform. Norton said it was very rare for a regulatory agency to do a follow-up of its work, such as today's panel of experts who not only looked at the impact of the FCC's ICS reform, but also at additional reforms on inmate calling services.

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called on Senate and House Republicans to end their attacks on the District of Columbia's labor laws, after Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Representative Paul Broun (R-GA) introduced the second bill this Congress uniquely attacking the labor laws of the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) filed an amendment yesterday that would eliminate the District of Columbia's gun safety laws. The amendment was filed to a bill entitled the Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act (S.2363), which the Senate is expected to begin debating this afternoon.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the meeting today with her District of Columbia Congressional Latino Council (CLC) and other D.C. Latino leaders produced several important recommendations that the District and the region should take into account, considering the large proportion of residents from Central American countries from which children are fleeing – El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.