Washington, DC — With crowds of protesters expected to converge on Washington for this weekend’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) conference , Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) next week will reintroduce a bill to cover costs incurred by District police and other agencies during this and other large national demonstrations in the city.

While it is impossible to predict the magnitude or determine the costs of this weekend’s gathering, the District must pull officials from police, health, and other agencies to ensure the safety of conference attendees and protestors. Norton’s District of Columbia Public Safety Reimbursement Act, will provide federal funds for D.C. agencies that are mobilized repeatedly for protests, marches and events such as the upcoming IMF conference that are held in the District solely because of it’s unique status as the nation’s capital.

Norton said that there is a longstanding congressional understanding that the federal government is obligated to help the District meet public safety requirements necessitated by the federal presence in the city. "The city’s taxpayers simply cannot take on an increasingly large burden that belongs exclusively with the federal government," she said. "City funds and personnel do not allow the District to handle many national events at today’s level of frequency and increased disruption without help from the federal government."

Last April, Norton obtained $4.4 million in funds to defray the costs of expenses incurred during the IMF/World Bank protests. However, the Congresswoman is seeking a systematic reimbursement for the large number of national events "that occur here every year, not because D.C. residents are here, but because Congress and the President are here." Until 1997, the District received an annual federal payment, augmented by varying amounts for public safety purposes.