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November 9, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced the Paul Laurence Dunbar Commemorative Coin Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 50,000 five-dollar coins, 400,000 one-dollar coins and 750,000 half-dollar coins in recognition of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the most influential African-American poets in American literature, ahead of the 150th anniversary of Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in the District of Columbia. The surcharge on each coin sold would benefit scholarships and similar activities of the Dunbar Alumni Federation, the alumni association for the historic Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School, the first public high school for African Americans in the United States. Norton is a Dunbar alumnus. Many well-known and accomplished African Americans graduated from Dunbar. Among many notable alumni are: Edward Brooke, the first popularly elected African American to the U.S. Senate; Wesley A. Brown, the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy; and Robert C. Weaver, the first-ever Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
November 9, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced her annual Veterans Day resolution honoring the more than 30,000 D.C. veterans and their families, who served their country without voting representation in Congress or complete home rule. The resolution condemns the denial of voting rights in Congress and full home rule for D.C. veterans and their families and calls for statehood for the District to make D.C. veterans and other residents equal.
November 9, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the response her office received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to her request that HUD use its executive discretion not to enforce rules against marijuana use in federally assisted housing that is in compliance with the marijuana laws of the state where the property is located.
November 8, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) vowed today to defeat two bills recently introduced by Republicans aimed at damaging the District of Columbia’s economy.
Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced the Drain the Swamp Act of 2021, which would require all executive branch agencies to move their headquarters outside of the D.C. area and to only have 10 percent of their employees in the D.C. area by 2026. Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) introduced the Stop Wasting All our Money on Palaces Act, or the SWAMP Act, which would prohibit the federal government from entering into a contract to construct a new federal building, including one built to be leased by the federal government, in D.C. for two years. The premise of the SWAMP Act is to save money, but the bill doesn’t prohibit the federal government from entering into a contract to build a federal building outside of D.C. during the two-year period.
November 6, 2021
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) announced that their bill to ban smoking, including of electronic cigarettes, on Amtrak passed the House last night as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is now headed to the president’s desk.
November 4, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released remarks she gave on the House floor earlier this week in support of the Build Back Better Act, highlighting the plan’s action on climate change and education. She noted that unlike the prior administration, Democrats are not adding to the deficit with the Build Back Better.
November 2, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) will mark up her District of Columbia Courts Vacancy Reduction Act on Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. The bill would allow judicial appointments to the local District of Columbia courts to take effect after a 30-day congressional review period, unless a joint resolution disapproving an appointment is enacted into law during that period. Currently, nominees to the local D.C. courts require Senate confirmation. The bill would make the congressional review process for appointees the same as the one currently used for legislation passed by the D.C. Council. The markup can be viewed on COR’s website.
November 2, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today reintroduced her bill to give the District of Columbia the authority to appoint all members of the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment (Board), except when the Board is performing functions regarding an application by a foreign mission with respect to a chancery. Under current law, in general, the Board consists of a representative of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the D.C. Zoning Commission, each of whom may be a federal official, and three mayoral appointees, subject to D.C. Council approval. The Board has no authority over federal property.
October 29, 2021
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that the Senate yesterday confirmed Matthew Graves for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Norton recommended Graves to President Biden. Biden, like Presidents Clinton and Obama, has granted Norton senatorial courtesy for judges on the U.S. District Court for D.C., the U.S. Attorney for D.C., the U.S. Marshal for the D.C. Superior Court, and the U.S. Marshal for the U.S. District Court for D.C.
October 28, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) spoke on the House floor to highlight how the President’s Build Back Better bill focuses on education. Norton’s brief remarks follow.