Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress, is pushing the U.S. Capitol Police to overturn what she called a “Scrooge-like ban” on sledding on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
“I understand that there may be reasonable limits placed on sledding, but an absolute ban on sledding in the little snow the District has on the grounds of the people’s House and the Senate is unseemly and unnecessary,” she wrote in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin, who chairs the Capitol Police Board.
According to The Wall Street Journal, police told some residents last week that they couldn’t sled on the Capitol grounds, which is prohibited under rules implemented in the wake of 9/11.
But Ms. Norton wrote that the ban appears to be “arbitrary” and that there are few places to sled in the city because of high-residential density.
She asked the board to remove the ban on sledding from Capitol Police regulations, and to respond within 30 days about their reviewing the issue.
“Americans should be able to sled on ’America’s front lawn,’” she wrote.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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