Skip to content

Norton Deals With Another D.C. Driver’s License Issue

District Delegate writes to NFL about beer vendor refusing to sell alcohol to D.C. resident

District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has heard from constituents about D.C. license issues before. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has heard from constituents about D.C. license issues before. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

District Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton isn’t going to stand idly by while Washington football fans are denied alcohol.

At the Washington Redskins-New York Giants game at MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in September, a vendor did not recognize a District of Columbia driver’s license and refused to sell alcohol to the Washingtonian.

[D.C. Residents Keep Facing Questions About Identification]

And now NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is hearing about it from Norton.

“I have been informed that a vendor refused to sell this D.C. resident alcohol … because the vendor did not recognize the newest version of the D.C. driver’s license,” Norton wrote in a letter to Goodell sent Wednesday.  “This is unacceptable, as you can imagine, and embarrassing.  I request that the NFL take action to ensure that all alcohol vendors can recognize D.C. licenses.”

This isn’t the first time Norton has fought back on D.C. ID issues.

In July 2014, WFTV Washington correspondent Justin Gray was stopped by a Transportation Security Administration agent at the Orlando International Airport who did not recognize his D.C. driver’s license as a valid form of identification.

[Norton Talks D.C. Equality with TSA Administrator]

Eventually Gray was able to get through security but TSA Administrator John S. Pistole heard from Norton.

In the letter to Goodell, Norton added, “D.C. residents live in the nation’s capital and have all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying their full weight of federal taxes and serving in the armed forces.  I ask that the NFL take action that will ensure my constituents are welcome at NFL games like other Americans.”

The delegate also spoke to the TSA in February 2014 about an incident when an agent at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport questioned D.C. resident Ashley Brandt about her license as she waited to board a flight. Brandt was eventually allowed to board the plane after the agent consulted a supervisor.

Recent Stories

Photos of the week ending October 11, 2024

Helene, Milton wreckage puts spotlight on disaster loan program

Trump pitches tax write-off for auto loans in Detroit speech

Biden forced to put legacy push on hold as crises mount at home and abroad

At the Races: Weary of the storm

FEC to consider clarifying what joint fundraising committees can pay for in political ads