Press Releases
May 10, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced the Promoting Healthier Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise Act, or the LIFE Act, to encourage exercise and healthy eating habits nationwide. The bill would provide $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat obesity and sedentary lifestyles in three ways: conducting national education campaigns about how to recognize and address overweight and obesity; training health professionals to recognize the signs of obesity early and to educate people concerning healthy lifestyles; and developing intervention strategies to be used in everyday life, such as in the workplace and in community settings. This initial funding would be for a pilot program to develop best practices and give the country a coherent national strategy for combating overweight and obesity.
May 9, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the Committee on Oversight and Reform will mark up her bill that would require the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to provide information to the District of Columbia on individuals convicted of felonies under D.C. law in BOP custody at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11th. BOP houses individuals convicted of D.C. Code felonies, but BOP contends that federal privacy laws prohibit it from providing any information on these individuals to D.C.
May 9, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) wrote the Capitol Police Board (Board) last week requesting a response to their September 2021 letter calling for U.S. Capitol Police officers to use body and dashboard cameras.
May 4, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a former constitutional law professor and Supreme Court practitioner, condemned the draft Supreme Court order overturning Roe v. Wade, saying it would not only end the constitutional right to abortion but also call into question whether the Supreme Court will overturn other longstanding and recent precedents protecting unenumerated rights of individuals. She also noted that the draft order presents a unique threat to abortion access in the District of Columbia because of Congress’ plenary legislative authority over D.C.
May 3, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) today introduced the RECOVER Act (Reducing the Effects of the Cyberattack on OPM Victims Emergency Response Act) to provide free lifetime identity protection coverage to current, former and prospective federal employees and contractors whose personal information was compromised by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breaches in 2015. Following the data breaches, Congress approved a version of the Norton-Ruppersberger bill as part of a fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill. However, Congress only required OPM to provide the identity protection coverage to affected individuals through fiscal year 2026. The Norton-Ruppersberger bill requires OPM to provide the coverage for the remainder of the life of the affected individuals.
May 3, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today expressed disappointment that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently proposed to the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission that the VA-operated Southeast Washington Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) be closed and its services be moved to the VA Medical Center in D.C. or to the CBOC in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Norton previously successfully fought the closure of the Southeast Washington CBOC, and will fight this latest proposed closure.
May 2, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that, despite the official withdrawal today of a proposed rule restricting public access to the Washington Channel in the District of Columbia, she will continue working to pass her bill that would prohibit any such rule in the future. Norton hosted a public meeting on the proposed rule, where D.C. residents overwhelmingly opposed the restrictions.
May 2, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) wrote the National Park Service (NPS) requesting information about the investigation into an automobile crash that killed two pedestrians at Hains Point last year. Norton wrote the letter after learning that NPS has refused to provide the families of the victims the driver’s name, which is necessary to file life insurance claims. Norton has long worked on getting more transparency from NPS, including in the 2017 shooting death of Bijan Ghaisar, who was unarmed, by U.S. Park Police officers.
April 29, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about reports of undelivered and delayed mail throughout the District of Columbia. In the letter, Norton said her office has not been receiving timely responses on cases referred to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
April 27, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that President Biden today nominated Ana Reyes to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Norton recommended Reyes to Biden. If confirmed, Reyes will be the first Hispanic woman and first openly LGBTQ person to ever serve on that court. Norton’s first two recommendations to Biden for the U.S. District Court for D.C., Jia Cobb and Florence Pan, were confirmed by the Senate and are serving on the bench.