Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for her longstanding support for District of Columbia statehood, home rule, and equality, after Maloney lost reelection. As chair of COR, which has jurisdiction over D.C., Maloney oversaw the passage of the D.C. statehood bill in the House in 2020 and 2021, which were the first and second times in history either chamber had passed the bill. Maloney also got several D.C. home rule and equality bills passed in COR. In addition, Maloney ensured that D.C. was made whole in the American Rescue Plan for the $755 million D.C. was shortchanged in the CARES Act, which treated D.C. as a territory instead of a state for coronavirus fiscal relief, even though D.C. pays the same taxes as states.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced an emergency appropriations bill for the current fiscal year (2022) to provide an additional $50 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). The funding is designated for humanitarian assistance to migrants, including those being bused into the District of Columbia by Texas and Arizona.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a resolution that would support the designation of Chuck Brown’s birthday, August 22nd, as national “Chuck Brown Day” to honor his contributions as the “Godfather of Go-Go” and his support for District of Columbia statehood. The musical genre of go-go originated in D.C. with Brown as the main progenitor. Norton introduces the resolution each year for Brown’s birthday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) yesterday met with the Chief Postal Inspector for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Gary Barksdale, to discuss mail theft in the District of Columbia and across the country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the Senate on August recess, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today highlighted the continuing judicial vacancy crisis on the local District of Columbia courts and reiterated the need for Congress to pass her bill that would expedite the approval process for local D.C. judges. The local D.C. courts face a persistent judicial vacancy crisis, regardless of which party controls the Senate, because both parties prioritize federal judicial and executive branch nominees over local D.C. nominees, but Republicans have exacerbated the problem this Congress by filibustering nominees to the local D.C. courts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she would defeat a bill recently introduced by Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL) that would make it more difficult to vote and administer elections in the District of Columbia.  The American Confidence in Elections: District of Columbia Election Integrity and Voter Confidence Act would, among other things, require photo identification or Social Security number to vote, require photos in poll books, prohibit same-day registration, prohibit automatically mailing ballots to voters, require ballot drop boxes to be located within a D.C. government building and monitored through 24-hour remote or electronic surveillance, require the removal of names from voting rolls, prohibit, with limited exceptions, a person from collecting a mail ballot completed by another person, require mail ballots to be received by the close of the polls, require election results to be announced by 10 a.m. the day after the election, prohibit non-citizens from voting, give partisan poll watchers virtually unfettered access to polling sites and permit them to challenge ballots and tabulations, and allow the public to observe the testing of election equipment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said the District of Columbia was shortchanged tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks in the Senate’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bills. D.C. did not receive any earmarks in the Senate bills because D.C. does not have senators to request Senate earmarks. Earmarks, which returned in FY 2022 for the first time in more than a decade, are funding requested by members of Congress for local governments and non-profits for specific projects in their districts or states.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today requested a joint meeting with the National Park Service (NPS) and the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to discuss removal of the Capitol Stones, which were part of the original Capitol building, from Rock Creek Park. NPS recently requested the removal of the stones for safety and preservation, and some are currently being stored in an AOC facility in Ft. Meade without public access.