Norton Hails First Report to the Floor of a Bill for Full D.C. House Vote and Vows to Press On May 18, 2006

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement after passage of the D.C. Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act in the Committee on Government Reform:

“Today’s historic vote in the Committee on Government Reform marks the first time in American history a committee of the House of Representatives has reported to the floor a bill to give a full House vote to the American citizens who live in the nation’s capital. We are now prepared to walk the full distance first to equal citizenship in the People’s House and one day, when the dawn breaks in America for equality and freedom for all, representation in the Senate as well. Progress on a bill of this magnitude occurs in steps. By any measure, today’s vote of 29 to 4 is a large step indeed.”

NORTON TO HOLD TOWN HALL MEETING AS FEDERAL PRESENCE MOVES ACROSS THE ANACOSTIA FOR THE FIRST TIME

Washington, DC—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that the $300 million in the President’s FY 07 budget for the Coast Guard headquarters in Southeast “will bring the federal government across the Anacostia for the first time, and with it, neighborhood development potential of the quality that has always followed federal construction in Northwest.” The new headquarters will be located on the west campus of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital along Martin Luther King Avenue . This spring, Norton will hold a town hall meeting in Anacostia, where federal and city officials will further explain their expectations and will take questions from the residents. An additional $6.4 million for infrastructure improvements on the west campus also is included in the FY 07 budget.

Norton serves as ranking member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the General Services Administration (GSA), which has responsibility for the project. The development of the west campus, which the federal government has reserved for federal office space, is expected to have an effect on the surrounding Southeast community similar to that of previous projects that Norton has helped guide, such as the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms headquarters that is anchoring development along the New York Avenue corridor, and the Southeast Federal Center, including the Department of Transportation, which has transformed the M Street corridor of Southeast Washington.

The new funding for the Coast Guard construction adds to almost $40 million appropriated last year for St. Elizabeth’s development. Locating federal agencies on the St. Elizabeth’s campus or anywhere in D.C. today will mean special security requirements for the agency, but with little effect on the development that will come to the surrounding community, according to security experts. Norton said that the St. Elizabeth’s development will involve extensive consultation with city and community officials and that she will work closely with GSA and residents to ensure that the federal presence helps to spark “a reawakening of a long neglected part of Washington.”

The west campus of St. E’s is owned by the federal government and the east campus is owned by the District of Columbia