DC Council member Robert White says he will bring ‘fire’ and ‘energy’ to DC Congress seat

Absolutely a tough decision, Nick. Like almost everybody in the District, I see Congresswoman Norton as somebody who has been a lion, just an icon in that seat for so many decades, the only member I remember in my lifetime, and I altered my legal career to work with her. But this year, like other D.C. residents, we have just been brutally attacked by the administration and Congress. Our money’s been stolen. We have masked agents, federal agents in our streets, our bills being overturned, and the congresswoman, after so many years of great work, just can’t defend the District the way that she once did. And we really need someone who can carry that torch, and I believe I can carry it and do justice to the work she’s done.

Well, we need a member who can be fully engaged in the debates, going to every member of the House and Senate and letting them know why this moment matters, not just for D.C., but for the country. And I’ve spent a lot of my time, spent most of my summer on Capitol Hill, trying to cover that gap. But I also talk to residents every day who have this fear in their eyes about what’s happening because they don’t see the defense that we once had. And this is a body, this Congress, where D.C. has one elected member. They’re supposed to be helping us with the cost of housing, safety in our streets, funding for our schools, and they are not on the ball. So we need somebody with the fire and the energy in that building making Congress work for D.C., and that’s what I plan to do.

What I’ve said Nick is, again, this year, we have been on our heels. The entire time, we have not seen the defense of Congress, even Democrats voting against D.C., often. We have not gotten our money back that Congress stole from us. The bills to hurt D.C. that will make D.C. less safe are passing the Congress, and so we need someone in there who can fight those back. I’m not here to criticize Congresswoman Norton because she has given us decades of service. What I am saying is she doesn’t have the fire that she once had, and we need someone who has that fire and that energy right now and and that’s what I will bring to Congress for D.C.

I’ve not heard differently from her. I have spoken to Eleanor Holmes Norton, and I talked to her and told her, I hope we can sit down, and my hope is that at some point in this race, she will see fit to pass the torch and endorse me. We’ve worked together before, and we’ve done some incredible work. And she knows that. I know that building in D.C. and D.C. government very well, so my hope is that she will see fit to pass the torch. She’s not there today, but I think we have some time.

She didn’t convey much. She said that she still plans to run at this point. I told her, I respect that, and I respect her. And I said I hope she’ll be open to getting together and really talking about this as as time goes on.

Well, look, we have seen the president, no matter how kind or complicit we are, push harder and harder and come down worse on D.C. residents. Our folks are losing their jobs. They’re feeling less safe. We’re not getting mental health and medical services covered, and we have been defenseless. So as the Congress member, I’m going to coordinate with the city, but also national leaders to protect us, but also bring to the forefront for the Democratic Party D.C. statehood, because as the nation gets into these redistricting battles, we need two senators in the District of Columbia who can help stabilize the balance of power for the next decade, and that’s something I want to see more of our Democratic Party talking about. This is in the interest not just of the District of Columbia, but the entire country.