Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), and Representative Anthony Brown (D-MD) sent a letter urging the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to give the District of Columbia mayor control over the D.C. National Guard in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA). The governors of states and territories control their National Guards, while the president controls the D.C. National Guard.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) requesting that the House rules for the 118th Congress permit the District of Columbia’s delegate to vote on the House floor in the Committee of the Whole.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced today that the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing on their Enslaved Voyages Memorial Act, which would authorize the establishment of a memorial on federal land in the District of Columbia to honor enslaved persons, on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Media and the general public will be able to view the hearing here. The bill passed the House in September. The memorial, to be established by the Georgetown African American Historic Landmark Project and Tour, would honor enslaved persons’ presence, celebrate their contributions to history, and recognize their resilience and fortitude.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) issued a statement following the announcement today by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) that he will not seek a Democratic Leadership position next Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for championing District of Columbia statehood, home rule, and equality, after Pelosi announced she would not seek election for Democratic Leader next Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the Committee on Oversight and Reform today passed her bill that would designate the post office at 400 Southern Avenue SE in the District of Columbia as the “District of Columbia Servicemembers and Veterans Post Office.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter requesting that the final fiscal year 2023 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill direct the National Zoo to extend the hours of the Zoo Loop Trail in a manner that allows the National Zoo to maintain accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). Norton met this week with the AZA. The AZA said the National Zoo has two options to extend the trail’s hours and maintain accreditation: extend the National Zoo’s hours of operations or build new fencing around the trail. The National Zoo has rejected both options.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today condemned an amendment filed by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) to the Respect for Marriage Act that would prohibit the District of Columbia from enforcing D.C. laws that protect same-sex couples from discrimination. Specifically, the amendment would prohibit D.C. from taking certain adverse actions, such as denying grants or contracts, against individuals and entities that otherwise unlawfully discriminate against same-sex couples if such individuals and entities have a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is a union of individuals of the opposite sex. While the amendment is framed as prohibiting the federal government from taking adverse action for violations of federal law, it defines the term federal government and federal law to include the D.C. government and D.C. law, respectively.