Elizabeth Holtzman

Elizabeth Holtzman began her career in public service by winning a seat in the United States House of Representatives as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, a record she still holds. During her four terms in Congress, Holtzman served on the House Judiciary Committee and won national attention for her role in the Watergate hearings and her questioning of President Ford about the Nixon pardon. She chaired the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law, where she led the fight against Nazi war criminals and authored the Holtzman Amendment, which bars Nazis from the United States and authorizes their deportation. In 1981 she was elected Brooklyn District Attorney and, in 1990, the first woman D.A. in New York City, and in 1990 she was elected New York City Comptroller, the first woman to hold that position. At present she is an attorney with the New York City firm of Herrick, Feinstein. She was recently appointed by President Clinton to the Interagency Working Group that oversees the declassification of U.S. government files dealing with War Crimes committed by the Nazis and their allies during World War II.