Eleanor Holmes Norton on Technology Democratic Representative (DC-Delegate)

Close digital divide with high-tech training.

The CBC recognizes technology as one of the most important issues minorities must address over the next decade. They are focused on closing the digital divide and moving towards digital empowerment for all Americans.
• Training Workers for the New Economy. The CBC believes that we need to train American workers for high-tech jobs. The majority of the high-wage jobs in the new economy are in the high-tech industry; and the U.S. high-tech industry pays higher wages than any other private sector industry. The H-1B training grants and other high-tech training grants should be targeted to train women, youth, minorities, military veterans and people with disabilities who are now under-represented in the high-tech industry. We will also seek to partner with the high-tech industry on both the hiring and retention of those persons in the previously mentioned groups who already have high-tech skills. We believe in lifelong learning and will work to support programs that help adults continue enhancing both their education and job skills. Technology skills will be critical to helping adults improve their professional standing.

Promote internet via Congressional Internet Caucus.

Founded in the spring of 1996, the Congressional Internet Caucus is a bipartisan group of over 150 members of the House and Senate working to educate their colleagues about the promise and potential of the Internet. The Caucus also encourages Members to utilize the Internet in communications with constituents and supports efforts to put more government documents online. The Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and the Internet Education Foundation host regular events and forums for policymakers, the press, and the public to discuss important Internet-related policy issues.

Membership in the Congressional Internet Caucus is open to any Member of Congress who pledges support for the following goals:
• Promoting growth and advancement of the Internet
• Providing a bicameral, bipartisan forum for Internet concerns to be raised
• Promoting the education of Members of Congress and their staffs about the Internet
• Promoting commerce and free flow of information on the Internet
• Advancing the United States' world leadership in the digital world
• Maximizing the openness of and participation in government by the people.

Permanent ban on state & local taxation of Internet access.

Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007 - Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.

Related bills: H.R.743, H.R.1077, H.R.3678, S.156.

Member of House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, roads, bridges, mass transit, and railroads. But the Committee has jurisdiction over other aspects of our national infrastructure, such as clean water and waste management, the transport of resources by pipeline, flood damage reduction, the economic development of depressed rural and urban areas, disaster preparedness and response, activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and the various missions of the Coast Guard.

When combined, these areas of jurisdiction provide a comprehensive view of how communities across the United States are connected to one another, how infrastructure affects the growth and flow of commerce at home and abroad, and how an effective government can improve the lives of its citizens.

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Aviation	Tom Petri (R-WI)	Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation	Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)	Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management	Jeff Denham (R-CA)	Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Highways and Transit	Jimmy Duncan (R-TN)	Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials	Bill Shuster (R-PA)	Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Water Resources and Environment	Bob Gibbs (R-OH)	Tim Bishop (D-NY)

Sponsored investing $1 billion in transportation projects.

Congressional Summary: TIGER Grants for Job Creation Act: Congress finds the following:

1. The economy is struggling to recover from the recession. The unemployment rate is nearly 8%.
2. The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure estimated that there is a $549 billion shortfall in investments in roads and bridges and an additional $190 billion shortfall in investments in transit.
3. TIGER, formally known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program, is a nationwide competitive grant program that creates jobs by funding investments in transportation infrastructure.

Opponent's argument against bill:(The Reason Foundation, July 6, 2012):

The US Constitution authorizes Congress "to regulate Commerce...among the several States." However, the five non-motorized transportation projects, the six transit projects and the six multimodal projects TIGER Grants have funded serve no national need. Some of the port, passenger rai