Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the wake of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and based on the suggestion of District of Columbia Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that she will introduce a bill that would make the chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) an ex officio, non-voting member of the Capitol Police Board (CPB). The CPB oversees the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP). Norton said that, as Congress considers reforms to the CPB, the CPB should appreciate the full context in which it operates, including its impact on D.C. residents, especially those who live close to the Capitol.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter requesting that the National Park Service (NPS) change the name of Melvin Hazen Park in the District of Columbia and work with the community to find a more suitable name. Hazen helped demolish the African American community in the D.C. neighborhood then known as Reno City. Norton noted in her letter that NPS appears to have the authority to change the name without congressional action because the name was designated administratively.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today reintroduced legislation to remove the Andrew Jackson statue from Lafayette Park in the District of Columbia, a federal park, citing Jackson’s ownership of slaves and genocide against Native Americans. This bill is the fourth in a series of statue and memorial removal bills Norton has introduced as part of her Black History Month series.

WASHINGTON, D.C – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, released her opening statement in advance of today’s subcommittee hearing on equity in transportation safety enforcement. The hearing, the subcommittee’s first of the 117th Congress, begins at 11 a.m. Her opening statement, as prepared for delivery, follows.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reintroduced their bill today to remove the name of Francis G. Newlands, a late U.S. senator from Nevada who held racist views, from Chevy Chase Circle. The name appears on the fountain and a plaque in the circle. The circle lies partly in the District of Columbia and partly in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, which Raskin represents, and is managed by the National Park Service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter to the Capitol Police Board requesting that the public have access to the outdoor spaces of the U.S. Botanic Garden that remained open to the public after COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were instituted at the U.S. Capitol complex but were closed after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

WASHINGTON, D.C – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) vowed today to defeat the latest attempt by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) to subvert District of Columbia. home rule. Lee recently introduced a resolution disapproving D.C.’s Minor Consent for Vaccinations Amendment Act of 2020, which permits minors capable of informed consent to receive a vaccine without parental consent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to the Capitol Police Board asking that the razor wire on the fencing surrounding the U.S. Capitol complex be removed immediately, because it has little security value this long after the attack on the Capitol, is unsightly and is intimidating to visitors and District of Columbia residents.