Norton in the Neighborhoods
Norton in the Neighborhoods
Norton's many community events range from frequent Norton in Your Neighborhood Community Conversations on federal issues to her annual tax and small business fairs. This year, several unique events stood out.
Staff Hard at Work at a New District Office
Norton opened a new main constituent services office at store-front level in a new building in the NoMa neighborhood, at 90 K St. NE Suite 100, located at the corner of 1st and K streets NE, behind Union Station – a new mixed-use neighborhood that developed because of Norton's work in the T&I Committee Economic Development Subcommittee. The office, which serves all D.C. residents, is backed up by her office at 2041 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, SE, which serves constituents residing on the east side of the Anacostia River. Shortly after the opening, the NoMa Business Improvement District held a welcome to the neighborhood open house and a ribbon-cutting for the new office.
Norton Going Further on the CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project
With continuing community concerns over the proposed CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project, Norton drew a large crowd to her community meeting to hear from residents, CSX, the Federal Highway Administration, and the D.C. Department of Transportation. As a minority party member, Norton cannot call a hearing, so she suggested at the meeting that she could request a hearing, and has since written Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chair Tom Petri (R-WI) to request a hearing on the project. In addition, Norton suggested given concerns that had been raised at the meeting, such as noise, vibrations, air quality, and the physical location of construction, Norton said there could be benefits to a community meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency. That meeting is being planned for January.
Introducing D.C. Health Link Serving Our Community, Members of Congress and Their Staff
The D.C. health care exchange, D.C. Health Link, is unique because it serves not only D.C. residents and businesses, but it is also where members of Congress and their staffs must purchase health insurance if they want to continue to receive their employer contribution. D.C. Health Link was one of only four jurisdictions that had a successful launch of its health care exchange on October 1, and has experienced fewer problems than HealthCare.gov and many state websites. Norton, using the occasion of Hispanic Heritage month, sponsored a forum to help D.C. residents learn how to use D.C. Health Link. At the event, Norton also honored Maria Gomez, President and CEO of Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care and a recipient of the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal, for her work in the D.C. Hispanic community.
Honoring D.C. Veterans
...Who Serve
D.C.'s record of service in the armed forces, without a congressional vote or equal representation, has historically exceeded other jurisdictions. Norton honored special veterans – two of the original Tuskegee Airmen from D.C. – on Veterans Day at the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, where she and Mayor Gray laid a wreath. A ceremony followed in the museum for William Fauntroy, Jr. and Major Louis Anderson, whose service inspired the large audience to build on the success of freeing D.C.'s budget in fiscal year 2014 from federal budget fights until budget autonomy for the District is achieved.
…and Hope to Serve
Norton's Service Academy College Fair and Sendoff was the largest such event since Norton has been a member of the House, and there were 89 applicants this year, the largest by far on record. Norton combined the sendoff ceremony for this year's six appointees to the service academies with a college fair to allow younger students to hear from actual recent service academy appointees, who can encourage students to apply to the service academies. Academy alumni from D.C. and service academy admissions officers were on hand with information about the application process, the advantages of an academy degree and life in the academies.