Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced a bill that would permanently remove the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike from federal land near Judiciary Square in the District of Columbia and authorize the Secretary of the Interior to donate the statue to a museum or a similar entity. The statue, which was illegally torn down last year, was donated to the federal government by the Freemasons, authorized by Congress in 1898 and installed in 1901. Last Congress, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed Norton’s bill by voice vote. This is the second in a series of statue and memorial removal bills Norton is introducing as part of her Black History Month series.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that she will reintroduce next week her bill giving the District of Columbia the authority to raise the pay of its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The District’s current CFO, Jeffrey DeWitt, announced his resignation yesterday. In 2013, Norton got a bill enacted into law that gave the District more authority to set the CFO’s pay, but a Republican-led House rejected giving D.C. full and complete authority over this matter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today kicked off her Black History Month bill series by reintroducing her bill that would remove the Emancipation Statue from Lincoln Park in the District of Columbia, a federal park, citing its problematic depiction of the fight to achieve emancipation. The statue would be placed in a museum with an explanation of its origin and meaning. This bill is the first in a series of statue and memorial removal bills Norton is introducing during Black History Month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that the victories she got for the District of Columbia in the portion of the coronavirus reconciliation bill passed by the Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) last Friday will help make D.C. whole with retroactive coronavirus funding while arming the city for the fight still ahead. COR’s portion of the bill provides D.C. with more than $2.2 billion in fiscal relief. It treats D.C. as a state, city and county for new fiscal relief, while restoring the $755 million D.C. lost as a result of being categorized as a territory instead of a state for fiscal relief in the CARES Act. Because D.C. residents pay full federal taxes, D.C. is treated as a state in funding bills, and should have been treated as a state for fiscal relief in the CARES Act. Norton fought particularly for and achieved funding for D.C. at the state, city, and county levels because D.C. provides services at all three levels. The coronavirus reconciliation bill is expected on the House floor next week. The bill is expected to pass in the House and Senate. Reconciliation bills are not subject to filibusters in the Senate and therefore need only a simple majority for passage in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Acting Chief of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Yogananda Pittman for her response to Norton’s January 28 letter asking that USCP send emergency alerts to the D.C. communities surrounding the Capitol. In her response, Pittman said USCP will explore ways to deliver these alerts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) continues to celebrate famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ 203rd birthday. Douglass was a longtime District of Columbia resident and an avid proponent of equal rights for D.C. residents. A 2013 Norton bill placed a statue of Douglass in the U.S. Capitol to represent the District, making D.C. the only jurisdiction that is not a state with a statue in the Capitol. A 2017 Norton bill established a bicentennial commission to plan, develop, and carry out programs and activities to honor and celebrate the life of Douglass. Norton was appointed by then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to serve on the commission.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the Senate today acquitted former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called on Congress to pass her concurrent resolution to censure him. “I strongly supported impeachment, conviction and disqualification of former President Trump, who incited an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6,” Norton said. “However, since the Senate has acquitted him, I again call on Congress to pass my censure resolution. It is the only method available now to send a bipartisan, bicameral message to the country and the world that the United States is a nation of laws, and it’s the only avenue left to prevent Trump from holding public office again.”