A Bill to Require the Director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia and the Director of the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency to Reside in the District of Columbia

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to require the Directors of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA) and the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) to reside in the District of Columbia during their tenure.

CSOSA is an independent Federal agency that supervises offenders only in D.C. PSA is an independent agency within CSOSA that supervises defendants only in D.C. This bill would not apply to those already in office upon enactment.

Congress has justifiably required that certain Federal officials live in the jurisdiction they serve to ensure in-depth knowledge of the unique issues and challenges residents and these Federal officials face, but these Federal officials serving the District are not required to do so. There is no reason that the Directors of CSOSA and PSA, Federal agencies that uniquely serve D.C. residents, should not be required to live in the District, engage with local communities and work closely with local officials. Adding residency requirements for these Federal officials is a matter of fairness for the residents they serve.

Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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