Media

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) thanked Senate Democrats for defeating yesterday by a vote of 44-49 Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) amendment that would have blocked all funding, including local, for District of Columbia schools. Cruz’s amendment, which was offered to the latest fiscal year 2022 continuing resolution (CR), would have prohibited any funds appropriated by the CR from being provided to schools that enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students. The CR appropriates federal funds to states, D.C. and territories but also appropriates D.C.’s local funds. D.C. will enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students next school year, and D.C. currently enforces a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students participating in school-based extracurricular athletics.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today condemned Representative Andrew Clyde’s (R-GA) attacks on the District of Columbia yesterday, including his statements that he is “actively working” on a bill to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act and that D.C. has been a “reign of terror” since passage of the Home Rule Act in 1973. Clyde, who is a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has jurisdiction over D.C., is contemplating action and using rhetoric not seen with respect to D.C. from Republicans since the early and mid-1990s.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Tomorrow, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will hold a virtual town hall meeting at 6:00 p.m. on infrastructure investments in Union Station. Norton is a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is running for chair of the committee. To attend, RSVP by emailing NortonEvents@mail.house.gov by noon tomorrow, February 17th.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that she introduced today the District of Columbia Courts Improvement Act of 2022, which would make several important improvements to the operations of the local D.C. courts. Under the D.C. Home Rule Act, the D.C. Council has no authority to amend title 11 of the D.C. Code (relating to the organization and jurisdiction of the local D.C. courts). This bill would only amend provisions in title 11.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Last week, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) wrote the Director of the National Park Service, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the General Manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to request a meeting to discuss the discovery of an unexploded ordinance on the Fort Totten Trail in the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) celebrated famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ 204th birthday. Douglass was a longtime District of Columbia resident and an avid proponent of equal rights for D.C. residents. A Norton bill placed D.C.’s statue of Douglass in the U.S. Capitol, making D.C. the only jurisdiction that is not a state with a statue in the Capitol. A 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. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today highlighted the 22 bills she has introduced this Congress in her Free & Equal D.C. series. The bills would provide the District of Columbia with elements of statehood, pending enactment of Norton’s D.C. statehood bill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said House Republicans have threatened to repeal the District of Columbia Home Rule Act if they take over the House next Congress. They cited reasons such as crime, homelessness, and drug use, all of which are present throughout the country. Several House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), Representative James Comer (KY), the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has jurisdiction over D.C., and others recently told the press that they plan to limit D.C.’s authority to govern its own affairs next Congress, including, according to Representative Andrew Clyde (GA), eliminating it by repealing the Home Rule Act.