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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release November 7, 1997

                   PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES WILMA A. LEWIS 
                         AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY 
                        FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The President today announced his intent to nominate Wilma A. Lewis to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Wilma A. Lewis, of the District of Columbia, is currently Inspector General for the United States Department of the Interior, a position she has held since April 1995. Ms. Lewis began her professional career in 1981, with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. In 1986, she joined the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division. During her seven-and-a-half years with that office, she served as both assistant and deputy chief of the Civil Division, as well as lead counsel for the federal government in a wide variety of civil cases in trial and appellate courts. In 1993, Ms. Lewis joined the Interior Department's Office of the Solicitor as Associate Solicitor for the Division of General Law. She remained in that position until her appointment as Inspector General.

Ms. Lewis has served on various boards and committees, including the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group and the Advisory Committee on Local Rules for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She has been a lecturer and instructor on employment discrimination law, an adjunct faculty member of The George Washington University National Law Center, and a faculty member of the College of Trial Advocacy (sponsored by the Law Center and the District of Columbia Bar Litigation Section). A native of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, Ms. Lewis earned a B.A. degree from Swarthmore College, and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

United States Attorneys are the chief federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers for the 94 federal judicial districts. They have principal responsibility for the prosecution of federal matters in their district.

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