Press Releases
March 28, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill that requires federal agencies to include in their annual budget justifications the amount they spent on advertising contracts with small, disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities in the previous fiscal year, as well as projections of their spending for the upcoming fiscal year. Earlier this month Norton co-led a letter to President Biden with Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Val Demings (D-FL) seeking answers about the inequity in federal advertising contracts awarded to media and advertising agencies owned by women and minorities as compared to the rest of the industry. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that over a five-year period, the federal government spent more than $5 billion on advertising but Black-owned businesses received only $51 million, or 1.02 percent of those funds.
March 23, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that, despite the Army’s announcement that it is “pausing” its proposed rule to restrict public access to the Washington Channel in the District of Columbia, she will continue working to get the proposed rule formally withdrawn and to pass her bill blocking the proposed rule and any other rule that restricts access to the Channel. Norton hosted a public meeting on the proposed rule last year, where D.C. residents overwhelmingly opposed the restrictions.
March 23, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Noting the success of vaccinations in reducing the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 and the security improvements at the U.S. Capitol, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that while she appreciated today’s announcement that the Capitol will reopen to a limited number of tours, the phased reopening plan for the Capitol is unnecessarily slow. Visitors to the Capitol are an important part of the District of Columbia’s economy.
March 23, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus and a member of the Subcommittee on Aviation, today announced that she will introduce a bill that would require helicopters in District of Columbia airspace to fly at the maximum altitude permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration, with limited exceptions. The exceptions would include active law enforcement investigations, transporting the president and vice president, and safety.
March 22, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) yesterday reintroduced her Federal Gift Shop Tax Act, which would allow state and local governments to impose a sales tax on purchases at gift shops on federal property.
March 21, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at an event hosted by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network at the Wharf commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Norton's legislation allowed the Wharf development to proceed, and she has filed a proposal for the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (WRDA) to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study swimming in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.
March 21, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary began its hearing on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom President Biden nominated to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. President Obama nominated Jackson for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on the recommendation of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
March 16, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today participated in a Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment hearing on proposals for the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. Among other items, Norton has requested that the bill require studies on a secondary drinking water source for the District of Columbia and flood mitigation in Federal Triangle in D.C.
March 15, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m., Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will hold a virtual community meeting on freight rail noise and vibration in the Deanwood neighborhood of the District of Columbia. Deanwood residents and representatives from CSX, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment will participate.
March 15, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today reintroduced her Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act, which would provide federal funds to encourage states to provide universal prekindergarten to every child, regardless of income. The bill would afford the benefits of early childhood education to all families, many of which are currently not able to afford it.