Sworn In and Ready for Battle

Absence of House Voting Rule Measure Disappoints Norton

Reprising her swearing-in, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is joined by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, daughter Katherine Norton, family friend Bermel Howard, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray and son John Norton. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was sworn in yesterday for a ninth term in Congress, pledging to work for quick passage of a bill granting the District a full vote in the House of Representatives.

Adrian M. Fenty, the District's new mayor, joined Norton at the ceremony in the Capitol. He told her that he will organize a large march next month down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress to press for a vote for the city.

"I'm very optimistic," declared Fenty (D).

No date for the march has been set.

Despite their buoyancy, it was not clear how much of a priority the D.C. voting rights issue will be for the new Congress. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not even give Norton the rules change she had proposed after November's elections, which would make it possible for the D.C. delegate to vote on amendments to legislation on the House floor.

A Pelosi spokeswoman, Jennifer Crider, said the speaker remains committed to providing Norton the broader voting power even though it was not included in the rules package the House considered yesterday as Pelosi initially predicted.

"The plan right now is to do that after the first 100 hours," said Crider, referring to the initial burst of congressional activity in which Democrats have promised to pass several key bills.

Norton said the change probably wouldn't be voted on until next month.

"I'm disappointed," she said. "But I've got to move on now to what we really want" -- a full House vote for the District.

Currently, Norton is permitted to vote only in House committees, not on the floor.

Norton was sworn in with the rest of the House members yesterday. Then, dressed in a bright blue suit, she and other representatives took the oath again in a series of nonofficial ceremonies presided over by Pelosi. Norton was joined for her swearing-in by Fenty, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), and several colleagues and relatives.

Norton said afterward that Pelosi had singled her out yesterday morning at a Congressional Black Caucus event, telling those assembled that "it is way past time for residents of D.C. to have their vote."