{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/norton-ideas-make-way-into-white-house-security-panel-report", "Norton Ideas Make Way Into White House Security Panel Report", "2014-12-19", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee, today said the review of the Secret Service, compiled by the U.S. Secret Service Protective Mission Panel to the Secretary of Homeland Security, contains key recommendations that she pushed for earlier this year.\u00a0 The report called for raising the height of the White House perimeter fence, curved outward at the top and keeping with the historical aesthetic of the White House; changing the Secret Service\u2019s \u201cinsider\u201d culture by bringing in an outside leader to run the agency; increasing the number of agents; and ensuring at least ten percent of an agent\u2019s time is devoted to training.\u00a0 These recommendations echo several ideas that Norton cited after an October OGR hearing laid bare the problems in the agency.\u00a0 However, Norton said she regretted that the report does not mention ensuring that security should take into account the need for public access to the White House front, as has been historically permitted.\n\u201cMost of these recommendations from the panel were readily apparent from the errors that the Secret Service hearing revealed,\u201d Norton said.\u00a0 \u201cThe most revealing, however, was a deficiency that the Secret Service was reluctant to admit and the OGR committee mostly failed to acknowledge \u2013 that the Secret Service was very significantly deficient in the number of personnel necessary to do the job.\u00a0 Under questioning, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson mentioned a deficiency in the number of agents.\u00a0 But the Secret Service itself has a history of not revealing any problems, including lack of personnel to do the job.\u00a0 This report lays out a recipe of corrections for an outside director to implement.\u201d\nNorton said she particularly welcomed the recommendation for a director from outside the agency as a way to eliminate the culture where agents seemed to protect each other\u2019s errors from discovery.\u00a0 She cited the incident when bullets penetrated the outside of the White House residence, which the Secret Service first assumed was unrelated gang gunfire, but was later discovered by personnel within the White House as a direct shooting on the residence.\u00a0 She also cited an instance when a man made his way into an elevator with the President, and the incident was investigated by an agent\u2019s supervisor rather than reported to the agency\u2019s investigative unit.\u00a0 Those two incidences, Norton said, show an insider culture.\u00a0\nAfter the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Norton worked with the White House and the National Park Service to maintain public access to the White House and surrounding area by widening E Street and keeping it accessible. However, following September 11, 2001, access on E Street was closed to the public. However, Norton worked with the White House to secure the opening of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to ensure public access.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/norton-ideas-make-way-into-white-house-security-panel-report"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.378460347652435, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}