Press Releases
May 14, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the House’s fiscal year 2021 supplemental security appropriations bill, introduced today to respond to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, contains victories for the District of Columbia she sought. The bill provides D.C. $66.7 million to eliminate the long-running deficit in the federally funded D.C. Emergency Planning and Security Fund (EPSF), prohibits the use of funds in the bill to install permanent above-ground fencing at the Capitol complex, and requires Capitol Police officers to wear body cameras. In February, Norton introduced the No Fencing at the United States Capitol Complex Act, which would prohibit the use of funds to install permanent fencing at the Capitol complex. In March, the House passed her Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act, which would require federal police officers to wear body cameras and use dashboard cameras, as part of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
May 14, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the response she and other Quiet Skies Caucus (QSC) members received from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to their letter regarding the FAA’s Neighborhood Environmental Survey, a nationwide survey about aircraft noise annoyance. Norton declared it a win for District of Columbia residents and the QSC. Norton and Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) are co-chairs of the QSC, and Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05) and Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY) are vice chairs.
May 11, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Planned Parenthood and the NAACP for leading a letter to Congress signed by 250 women of color leaders supporting the District of Columbia statehood bill on public health and racial equality grounds.
“This letter makes important points,” Norton said. “Statehood would give voting representation to the residents of the District, almost half of whom are Black, and it would improve our ability to enact effective public health campaigns and deliver those medical service to historically underserved Black communities. While ‘no taxation without representation’ is our rallying cry, the letter led by Planned Parenthood and the NAACP notes many other reasons why statehood is the only just way to proceed for the residents of D.C.”
May 10, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, today called for a hearing on ransomware attacks and their potential risks to national infrastructure, in light of the recent ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline Co., which has impacted gasoline and jet fuel supply to the East Coast.
May 6, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced her resolution supporting federal workers on Tuesday in honor of Public Service Recognition Week. She has introduced the resolution every Congress since 2012.
“This year has been particularly difficult for federal workers,” Norton said. “Many federal workers have had no choice but to come to work during the pandemic, potentially exposing themselves to a deadly disease and risking their very lives. On January 6th we had an insurrection resulting in the death of at least one Capitol Police officer. At our borders we’ve had large scale unrest as workers were asked to enforce inhumane policies. Yet at every challenge, federal workers rose to the occasion.
May 3, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked a national coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum for endorsing the District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act, which would give the D.C. Mayor control over the D.C. National Guard (DCNG). Currently, the president controls the DCNG, while the governors of states and territories control their National Guards. Norton and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) are the sponsors of the bill.
April 30, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a former tenured professor of constitutional law, today released the following explanation on why the 23rd Amendment, which allows the federal district to participate in the Electoral College, does not need to be repealed before Congress could grant statehood to the District of Columbia.
Norton said, “Those who make such an assertion are conflating a policy choice and a constitutional requirement.
April 30, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) received a response today to her April 26th letter to Acting D.C. Postmaster Eddie Masangcay regarding undelivered and delayed mail throughout the District of Columbia. Norton wrote after learning of mail being lost or severely delayed at a time when mail delivery is particularly important during the pandemic and with mail containing life-saving medications, tax and financial documents and bills.
April 27, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that she has been designated as one of the limited number of Members of Congress to attend tomorrow President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress.
“While COVID restrictions mean this year’s event will be smaller than the annual addresses in the past, I’m looking forward to hearing President Biden speak directly to the American people and describe his full vision for the country,” Norton said. “But the size of the crowd does not define the significance of the event. President Biden’s strong endorsement of D.C. statehood makes this year’s joint session particularly meaningful for D.C. residents.”
April 27, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that Republicans are increasingly nervous about the District of Columbia statehood bill because of House passage last week, a Democratic-controlled Senate, and a recent nationwide poll showing 54% of Americans support D.C. statehood.
“Republicans have been busy looking for ways to stop the D.C. statehood momentum,” Norton said. “On April 22, the day the House passed the D.C. statehood bill, Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a bill to retrocede D.C. to Maryland, an admission that the District is treated unequally. Marshall’s bill has no support from either the District or Maryland. In fact, a huge majority of D.C. residents (86%) voted for statehood in 2016, and Maryland’s highest-ranking member of the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a leading supporter of D.C. statehood, wrote a Washington Post op-ed in strong support of D.C. statehood. Retrocession would be inconsistent with the 2016 vote and the District’s pursuit of self-determination. Retrocession concedes that the size of the federal district can be reduced by simple legislation, as the D.C. statehood bill would do. D.C. statehood does not require a constitutional amendment. Under the Constitution, Congress has the authority to admit new states, and every new state was admitted by Congress.”