Norton Asks Congress for a D.C. DA

District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is introducing a bill in Congress to give Washington an elected district attorney to prosecute local crime instead of the U.S. Attorney.

Norton said there is no law enforcement issue more important to D.C. residents on which they have less say than prosecution of local crimes. She introduced the bill Tuesday.

Norton said her bill follows a 2002 nonbinding referendum in which 82 percent of D.C. voters approved a locally elected district attorney.

As the District's delegate to Congress, Norton said the U.S. Attorney's Office needs to be freed up to handle national security and other vital federal cases, rather than local crime. She said national security should be the focus of federal prosecutors in the nation's capital after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.