By James Wright, Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com

The District of Columbia’s congressional representative told residents living east of the Anacostia River that she is fighting for them every day and isn’t deterred by Republicans on the Capitol Hill or her opponent in the Democratic primary.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) was the keynote speaker for the Ward 7 Democrats meeting  at the Dorothy I. Height Benning Neighborhood Library March 24. Norton, seeking a 15th term to the U.S. House of Representative, started the meeting talking about the District’s progressive gun laws that are under attack from Republicans. “I want to help D.C. keep its good gun safety laws,” the delegate said. “Sen. Marco Rubio is the greatest opponent of D.C.’s gun laws and he wants to change them but he needs to look at his state.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton is the District of Columbia’s congressional member. (Photo by J. Wright)

Rubio represents Florida, the scene of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida last month, where 17 children were killed. The Stoneman Shooting fueled the “March for Our Lives” march that took place on that day in downtown Washington.

Norton said she will block Rubio’s latest attempt, just as she has stopped other attempts from members of Congress to change the city’s gun laws without their consultation or consent.

Norton said the key for the District to move ahead legislatively on the Hill is for the Democrats to take control. “Your activism is very important to the turnover in the House,” she said. “We have a good chance to take control of the House and even the Senate.”

Ward 7 is located in the northeastern section of the District with a sliver in Southeast. It is the ward that has highest percentage of Blacks in the city, 96.8 percent according to the 2010 census.

The ward includes middle-class enclaves such as Hillcrest and Penn Branch, working and low-income neighborhoods such as Marshall Heights and Lincoln Heights and gentrifying Deanwood.

Norton has served in the U.S. Congress since 1991 and faces political newcomer Kim Ford, who held positions in the Obama administration, in the primary.

Norton doesn’t have a full vote on the House floor in the Congress but has full committee privileges and can accrue seniority. The delegate said her top priority during the congressional budget season is to preserve DC TAG, the program that helps District residents attend higher education institutions in other states at in-state rates.

“We have thousands of children who have benefited from DC TAG,” she said. “President Trump proposed $30 million for it and we have been maintaining it at the $40 million level and we kept it there. We want all of our students to come home because they are assets to our economy.”

Norton said her focus is to get re-elected. She said she called Ford to thank her for her candidacy. “I have to raise money and now I can tell my supporters I have an opponent and I thanked her for that,” she said with a chuckle.

D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) attended the meeting and listened to her remarks. “Eleanor Holmes Norton is a dear friend,” Gray said. “When her opponent called me to ask for my support I told her you must be kidding. This is someone I actually like. She can be in the Congress as long as she likes.”