Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is the non-voting Delegate from the District of Columbia to the United States House of Representatives (map). She was born in Washington, D.C., and attended Antioch College, Yale University (M.A. 1963) and Yale University Law School (L.L.B 1964). Norton worked as a lawyer in private practice, then became a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr. She has served as an assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, adjunct assistant professor at New York University Law School, executive assistant to the Mayor of New York, chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a senior fellow of the Urban Institute, and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Norton was elected in 1990 as a Democratic non-voting delegate to the House, and took office on January 3, 1991.
Unlike a full Representative, the delegate from the District of Columbia is not permitted a legislative vote. Also, she may speak only on behalf of the District and vote only in committee, not on the House floor. The District, which has no Senate member at all, shares its limited form of Congressional representation with Puerto Rico and three other U.S. territories. Unlike those territories or any other place in the United States, citizens are subject to all federal laws, including taxation, despite not being represented in Congress. (See Taxation without representation).
