Eleanor Holmes Norton - Congresswoman for the District of Columbia

Eleanor Holmes Norton has served as the Congresswoman for the District of Columbia since 1990. As a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, she lobbies congressional colleagues regarding the city's interests. Norton came to Congress as a national figure who had been a civil rights and feminist leader, tenured professor of law, and board member at three Fortune 500 companies. She is up for re-election in 2012.

Congresswoman Norton is the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. She also serves on two committees: the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus. As a tenured professor of law at Georgetown University, Norton teaches a course there every year.

Recent Accomplishments

Congresswoman Norton has brought significant economic development to the District of Columbia throughout her service in Congress. Some of the recent projects that she influenced include:

• the U.S. Department of Homeland Security headquarters, now under construction at St. Elizabeths
  
• private development of the 55 acre Southeast Federal Center
  
• relocation of 6,000 jobs to the Washington Navy Yard
  
• new headquarters for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
  
• Addition of Metro station at New York Avenue, which has resulted in the development of the NOMA neighborhood.

Education and Professional Background

Eleanor Holmes Norton earned a bachelors degree from Antioch College (B.A. 1960), a graduate degree from Yale University (M.A. in American Studies 1963) and a law degree from Yale Law School (L.L.B 1964). She was active in the civil rights movement and upon graduation from law school, worked as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. She served as the assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1965-1970. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the first female Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1977. She became a professor at Georgetown University Law Center in 1982. Norton served as a trustee on a number of public service boards, including the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar Association, as well as, served on the boards of civil rights and other national organizations. Norton was elected in 1990 as a delegate to the House of Representatives and has been reelected every two years since.

Personal Background

Eleanor Holmes was born in Washington, DC on June 13, 1937. She is a third-generation Washingtonian, and the mother of John Holmes Norton and Katherine Felicia Norton.

Contact Info

2136 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-8050
Website: http://norton.house.gov