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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), sponsors of the District of Columbia statehood bill in the House and Senate, respectively, said the addition of new Senate and House cosponsors of the bill in the last few days undoubtedly speaks to the effect of the unprecedented occupation of the District by federal police and out-of-state troops last week. They thanked the new cosponsors, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI), and said that the bill, which House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reiterated last week will go to the House floor this year, already has enough cosponsors alone to pass in the House, and is cosponsored by over three quarters of Senate Democrats.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today announced that their Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act of 2019 (H.R. 3364), which would require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles, was included in the House’s new sweeping police reform bill, the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The House is expected to pass the Justice in Policing Act as soon as this month. Norton and Beyer introduced their bill after U.S. Park Police officers shot and killed 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar, who was unarmed, in November of 2017.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was briefed by a member of the D.C. National Guard who was on duty last Monday evening when federal police pushed aside peaceful demonstrators to allow President Trump and his staff to go to St. John’s Church for a photo op. What follows is an eyewitness account given to Norton by a National Guard member who was on duty.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today condemned Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) statements that District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser is “ungrateful” and “must be stopped” from allegedly “evicting” the Utah National Guard and other state guards from D.C. hotels. Norton noted that state national guards have been deployed in D.C. by state governors at the request of the federal government, without Bowser’s consent, even though Bowser, like governors, has the authority to request the assistance of out-of-state guards under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. Norton said she is not surprised by Lee’s comments because he has spent considerable time in the Senate introducing legislation to overturn local D.C. laws. Lee, who professes to support local control over local affairs, has been a chronic abuser of Congress’ anti-democratic power over D.C., introducing legislation to overturn D.C.’s occupational licensing laws and create a new D.C. Council committee on occupational licensing; to ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District; and to allow discrimination against D.C.’s LGBTQ residents. Norton has defeated all of these bills.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today issued a statement after Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reaffirmed his intent yesterday to bring the District of Columbia statehood bill to the House floor during the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a resolution designating June as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month” and calling on the Senate to pass important national gun violence prevention legislation that has already passed the House. In previous Congresses, Republicans have introduced legislation to eliminate the District’s gun violence prevention laws, in contravention of home rule. Norton was able to defeat all these measures, and, as a result, none have been introduced this Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today she appreciates the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) action to begin to release D.C. inmates, both federal and D.C. Code offenders, from prison to home confinement pursuant to its new authority under the CARES Act, in light of the coronavirus. The BOP informed Norton that 84 D.C. inmates have been placed on home confinement under the CARES Act, of whom 59 are D.C. Code offenders and 25 are federal offenders. Norton has requested regular updates from BOP on the number of inmates released to home confinement, which the BOP has promised to provide.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following President Trump’s use of federal authority to tear gas peaceful protestors in the nation’s capital, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a veteran of the civil rights movement, today said peaceful protesters are finding ways of their own to protect themselves from blame for disruptive tactics and violence by interlopers and the police.