From Site of Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton:
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is now in her seventh term as the Congresswoman for the District of Columbia. Named by President Jimmy Carter as the first woman to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she came to Congress as a national figure who had been a civil rights and feminist leader, tenured professor of law, and board member of three Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Norton also had been named one of the 100 most important American women in one survey and one of the most powerful women in Washington in another.

The Congresswoman’s work for full congressional voting representation and for full democracy for the people of the District of Columbia continues her lifelong struggle for universal human rights. Congresswoman Norton has used her background in national affairs and in law to become a leader in the House in important posts. She has served in the Democratic House leadership group and as the Democratic chair of the Women’s Caucus, and she has been a member of the Committee on the Reorganization of the Congress, appointed by the Speaker when the Democrats controlled the House. Her success in writing bills and getting them enacted has made her one of the most effective legislative leaders in the House. She has the full vote in House committees and serves on the Government Reform Committee and on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Congresswoman Norton has brought home many unique economic benefits to her constituents, as well. Among the most noteworthy are low in-state tuition for D.C. residents attending public colleges and universities nationwide or $2,500 to go to certain private colleges; a unique $5,000 homebuyer tax credit that has increased sharply home ownership and helped stabilize the city’s population; and D.C.-only tax breaks for employing D.C. residents and for maintaining businesses in the District. Among her major job and development initiatives and bills are the relocation of 6,000 jobs to the Navy Yard; private development of the 55 acre Southeast Federal Center to benefit the District; and successful efforts that have kept the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from leaving for the suburbs.

Congresswoman Norton, who taught full time before being elected, continues as a tenured professor of law at Georgetown University, teaching a course there every year. After receiving her bachelors degree from Antioch College in Ohio, she simultaneously earned her law degree as well as a masters degree in American Studies from Yale. Yale Law School has awarded her the Citation of Merit as an Outstanding Alumna of Yale Law School, and Yale Graduate School has awarded her the Yale Wilbur Cross Medal as an Outstanding Alumna of the Graduate School. She is the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees.