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D.C.’s Longest-Serving Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Announces Retirement
Washington, D.C. – After a distinguished career spanning over three decades, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the sole voice for Washington, D.C., in the House of Representatives, announced Tuesday that she will retire from Congress at the end of her current term. Norton, 88, has represented the nation’s capital since 1991, tirelessly advocating for its residents and their rights.
In a news release, Delegate Norton reflected on her time in Congress as a “privilege,” reaffirming her unwavering dedication to her constituents. “Time and again, D.C. residents entrusted me to fight for them at the federal level, and I have not yielded,” Norton stated. She emphasized her passionate efforts to address the “injustice of denying 700,000 taxpaying Americans the same rights given to residents of the states for 35 years.”
Norton indicated that the decision to step aside was made to pave the way for a new generation of leadership. “The privilege of public service is inseparable from the responsibility to recognize when it’s time to lift up the next generation of leaders.
For D.C., that time has come,” she explained. “With pride in all we have accomplished together, with the deepest gratitude to the people of D.C., and with great confidence in the next generation, I announced today that I will retire at the end of this term.”
Before her election to Congress, Delegate Norton had an illustrious career as a civil rights leader, helping to organize the historic 1963 March on Washington. She also served as an attorney who successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court, was the first woman to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and held a tenured position as a law professor at Georgetown University.
Among her significant legislative achievements, Norton highlighted securing federal funding for local improvements, facilitating the transfer of RFK Stadium to the capital, and establishing the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program.
Delegate Norton confirmed she will complete her current term and intends to remain dedicated to serving the District of Columbia after leaving office. D.C. currently lacks Senate representation, and its single congressional seat holds limited voting privileges, an issue Norton has long championed.