♪ good sunday morning. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. now serving her 13th term on capitol hill, she is the ranking member of the house subcommittee on highways and transit. she serves on the committee on government and reform and the committee on transportation and infrastructure. she's a ten-year law professor at georgetown university. and she's beloved by many here in the washington area. welcome congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. >> thank you. >> it's a new day in the house.

representative paul lyons is a speaker. what is your5c impression of hi? >> i worked with him in the past. he was a mentee of jack kemp. people may remember jack kemp. >> sure. >> a football turned hub secretary. was quite conservative. and went to hud, because of his concern for poverty, when jack kemp was one of your mentors that's when i came tov know pa with the speaker of the house, remember, pat, what the house looks like today. the she's very different house, from even the very different houses i have served in. i've been in the minority most of my time in the congress, but i've always been able, i'll say, even this time, to find republicans i can serve with. but we've never had a house

which has been divided into five or six factions, would have to beg, somebody, would anybody like to be speaker of the house. and paul seemed to be the one they were begging the most. so that puts us in a better position than we would have been in than some other people. but paul has not been tested on d.c. riders and on very partisan matters, that there are conservative members try to press on to the district. so, we will -- i will be going to see him. when the house reconvenes next week. to make sure that he knows where we stand. >> so, you have not yet had a chance to meet with him. and the jury's still out, in terms of what his election means or could mean to the district? >> even the republicans don't know what he means for the republicans. the most conservative ones hope that, in december, he closes down the house. we face a possible shutdown

because outstanding is still an omnibus, meaning everything includes in one big package, spending bill. and we don't know how he'll fare. >> regarding the spending bill and the riders that could impact d.c., what are some of them? >> well, for example, the council passed a bill, the

reproductive nondiscrimination act, they call it. what it says is that an employer can't discriminate against someone because of whatever the reproductive choice is he or she makes. well, frankly, an employer doesn't even have a right to know what your reproductive choices are. we have some who say if your reproductive choice is to go in vitro fertilization to make you pregnant, they're against that. if your reproductive choice is abortion, they're as against that. they're against you having children and not having children. now, the district, of course, says whatever is your choice is your choice. and there is the so-called freedom caucus, the most far right wing caucus, which has succeeded in getting that through the house. and here's where i have good news. we have a republican senate for

the first time in several years, and yet by working with them, we were able to keep any riders from coming on to the senate appropriation bill. but will we be able to maintain that if the house presses forward with its riders.

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new york, which is divided by two districts. in fact, i've had courtesy when democrats are in power, and i have it with president obama,

we have what we believe is the most diverse district corner, federal district court, in the united states, and it is full of people who would make your head spin. they have such extraordinary qualifications. so, we're a city of lawyers. so, we should not have to goes where to find people to be our district attorneys. and district court judges. >> one of your other

recommendations is the district's new u.s. attorney channing phillips. some have brought some criticism your way for your recommendation, calling it political. how do you respond to that? >> well, i think people understand the way in which we must do these as a federal official. they perhaps think thato the person who is second in command do not become a u.s. attorney, there must have been something political in that. well, we lookn

recommendation and appointed channing phillips. so two different officials, known d.c. representative, and the president of the united çtates came out in the same way. >> nbc4 reported that you were fed up. with how long it took channing phillips' predecessors to make a decision on vincent gray. >> and i don't know where they got that from. as a lawyer, i can tell you that the u.s. attorney, many times, particularly when he's prosecuting, a public official takes a very long time. the reason is, the u.s. attorney indicts you, he's going to get you. so no lawyer would find that unusual. you know, channel 4, whoever they had talked to found it unusual. and i did not find it unusual. and the people that i talked to,

interestingly, did not base their recommendations to me on the vincent gray case. they looked at how the office is organized. what happened within the office. how judges regard these two men. they had the same qualifications. they had both been principal u.s. attorney by the second in command, so they both have excellent qualifications and it was a very difficult choice to make. >> are you anxious to see phillips make a decision on that one way or another? >> i'm sure everybody wants a decision to be made. i think he's announcing he is

general manager. i know that's something that we've all been looking for for sometime. how will that help paul wiedefeld? >> first of all, i'm glad to see a new general manager and timely just as we passed the surface transportation bill. it's the one bill of any significance, quite frankly. we passed. and this congress, and indeed, in recent congresses, the congresses have been voted the least productive congresses in history. this is the first long-term transportation bill in ten years. by the way, it's got level funding. the same funding it got ten

years ago. so that tells you what wife congress we're in. much worse off infrastructure. fortunately, i'm one of four leaders of the bill and it's one of the few bills in the congress that is bipartisan. i'll be on conference. i helped write the bill. it has much in the bill that this region and this city wanted. so, the new general manager, i think, will at least be pleased by that. it's got, for example, oversight over safety transportation. that's not unusual because the original bill provided for that. and no local jurisdiction now has had the time to develop its own local oversight of safety. but you know, we had a woman die on a hinñtrain, and there's bee much criticism of safety. with wmata, this general manager knows it.

and he comes at a time when wmata is very critical. and yet, we haven't been able to get a new bill out with much in the region including new money for collection of bus drivers. new money for people to be train&ky new money for new businesses. i think that comes at a good time at him, even if wmata is a very big burden for anybody to take on after ten months without any general manager. >> all right. got to take a break. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. stay with us.

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the learning the virtue of sharing fun. why let someone else have all the fun? that's no fun. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. congresswoman norton, there's a lot of water front development taking place in washington, southwest, southeast. and one of your bills passed back in 2000, the private public development act, had a lot to do with the federal land is taking place on? >> yeah, i couldn't stand to see

all of that federal land and we get nothing out of it. one for the southeast water front and one for the southwest water front are developing in two communities. this is land that the district has never been able to put in productive use. because i had to put in federal bills to see if it could happen. and to show it could happen, up at noma behind union station, in a city that's developed, you can't afford to leave any part of it going to waste. and that's what was happening. these are my major projects. you get these done, even when the congress doesn't do anything. because the administration, even republican administration, will continue to fund federal development in the city. >> talk about the potential economic impact. >> the economic impact really is colossal, look at the old trump hotel, by the way. here's trump running for

president with the hotel and the district of columbia going to be the first really hotel you and i that will be able to stay in this hotel and bring revenue to the district. and this development that i've just spoken of is going to produce tens of billions of dollars in investment for the district of columbia. because there will be retail -- mixed use retail. for us to use and for the region to use. you have land that's been lying fallow. and that is considered -- and the water front land is considered among the most favored land in any district, that is where your money is. so we're very pleased that that development is ongoing. it's going to be going on for the next ten years. there's the developmentñthat now

picks up again at the st. elizabeth's, where the secretary of homeland security is coming down with a thousand of his top staff, going up there, taking names and keeping records of district of columbia residents being hired in small businesses. contracting, for that work. a lot going none the district. so, you have pushed the gsa to reform the policy for handling expired leases. what's the problem with the so-called holdover leases? why is that so important? >> the inefficiency of the gsa looks like it's the result of a roundtable being reversed. if gsa leases stand on hold, and nothing is happening. that affects d.c. revenue big time. because much of our revenue, quiet as its kept, comes from gsa leasing downtown. so you're holding over.

and you, therefore, punishing the developmeers, but you're al punishing gsa, because they are still paying the same lease payments they were paying before. because they're acting like a bureaucracy, rather than a real estate developer. we thought this was so wasteful. we've held two roundtables in two different congresses and now they're holdovers. it's the agency but not the house and senate. >> all right. we're going to take one more little

welcome back. congresswoman norton, bring yourself to speed on efforts. you've got a briefing coming up next week? >> i do. we had something, a once in a lifetime opportunity, with john

oliver's hbo, that's world class. >> a lot of buzz about that. >> the segment where he makes fun of the congress for denying district residents their right. last week, this week, whatever it's called. and what we're doing, we're showing it, having a congressional briefing, having professor viaden, who is an assistant attorney general in the bush administration. he's going to talk about why it is constitutional. and congressional staff. and more importantly, members of the public. i hope that you will come. 3:00, next tuesday, the 17th of november. 2253 rayburn house office building. 17-minute briefing. discussion of why statehood is

constitutional with congressional members and staff. members of the public. pushing for statehood, even with a republican house and senate you don't let up, just because one house or even both have gone to a party that hasn't shown much affinity for statehood. or else, when you get back, you'll have lost time. and what we've done is get a record number of co-sponsors in the house and senate, including by the way, all of the democratic leaders of the senate. so we haven't lost time. even though we lost the house and senate. and what we're doing is using this time to build momentum in the country, and i must say, pat, in the district as well. we need our own folks to be -- to be energetic within the city about statehood. a lot of them are.

we need a lot more. and i hope they'll come on tuesday at 3:00 for the congressional briefing. >> and very quickly, you also got an endorsement from the f1 oan endorsement from the front-runner? tuesday, hillary clinton came to brief members of the house and the senate about what she did as secretary of state. i asked her, do you endorse statehood? she said, eleanor, i have always been for statehood. that's all i needed to hear. >> congresswoman eleanor holmes norton, always good to see you and hear from you. >> thank you, pat. >> thank you for being with us. that's "viewpoint" this morning. i'm pat lawson muse. "news for today" is next. ♪ ♪

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right now on "news4 today" the hunt for the attacker. police have already got people in custody. an off-duty cop shoots a suspect in a crowded metro station and a bystander is wounded. we'll have her condition this morning and the impact on service. all right. and scrape the frost off your windshield. temperatures are in the 30s. it is a cool start to this sunday, november 15th, 2015. and good