House Passes Norton Amendment to Give D.C. the Same Number of Service Academy Nominations and Appointments as States

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the House today passed her amendment to the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that would give the District of Columbia the same number of U.S. service academy nominations and appointments as states. Currently, each member of the House and Senate is allocated five appointments to each of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, and is allowed to nominate 10 people for each appointment as it becomes vacant. However, because D.C. has no senators, the District is deprived of 10 appointments to each of these service academies.

"I am very pleased the House passed my amendment," Norton said. "We are one step closer to providing equality for the residents of the District who choose to serve their country by applying to a service academy. It is remarkable that D.C. residents volunteer to serve a country that denies them statehood, congressional voting rights and full home rule. Yet, District residents have fought in every American war, and our residents, who pay all federal taxes, including paying more federal taxes per capita than the residents of any state, deserve to have the same opportunities to attend our prestigious service academies as residents of the states.

"The District's population is larger than that of two states and is in line with the six states that have a population under one million. D.C. servicemembers have helped secure voting rights for people throughout the world yet have always been denied those same rights when they returned home. District residents deserve equality in every respect, but particularly so in their access to our nation's prestigious service academies."

Norton introduced the text of the amendment as a standalone bill this Congress.

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