Turns out D.C. has another champion in Congress, besides Fairfax Congressman Tom Davis. His name is Frank Wolf, the Republican who represents the congressional district astride the Blue Ridge mountains, from McLean to Winchester.
Davis, a powerhouse in the Republican Party, has devoted his clout to a law giving D.C. full voting rights in the House. Wolf has had other interests, in particular crime and education. He has pursued them quietly, which explains in part why I was too quick to criticize him in an earlier column. He petitioned the White House for a local crime summit; I branded it as knee-jerk.
“I have never wanted to insinuate myself in the District of Columbia,” he tells me. “I don’t want to tell people beyond my district what to do.”
But he could tell crime was getting out of control in D.C. neighborhoods where most congressmen fear to tread. Back in January — long before bodies started to pile up in the local morgue — Wolf called a meeting of federal law enforcement officials, including the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I was trying to get them to do something for people who lived in Anacostia and neighborhoods in Northeast and Southeast,” he says. “They all said they were going to do things. Nothing happened.”
What interest would a Virginia Republican have in street crime in D.C.? Answer: Plenty. Before he was elected to Congress in 1980, he mentored inmates at Lorton, then D.C.’s infamous jail, in the “Man to Man” program. “I‘ve actually had ongoing involvement,” he says.
Wolf’s zeal for public service apparentlyrubbed off on his children.
One daughter, Virginia, has taught in D.C.’s inner-city schools and worked with the Community of Hope. A son-in-law is involved with a D.C. charter school. Wolf has brought students from the toughest parts of town for classes in his office. He gets it.
“Mothers can’t send their children to school without fear they will make it there and back,” he says. “This isn’t about stickups and stuff on the Mall.”
Wolf used his position as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce to ask why the dozens of police forces in D.C. — from Metro to Amtrak to U.S. marshals to FBI — couldn’t pitch in to fight local crime.
He’s sought support from FBI Director Robert Mueller, and “the bureau tells me they can really make a difference,” Wolf says.
Likewise, he has prodded federal marshals to serve outstanding warrants on thugs who should be behind bars.
Here’s one step that would help: Make sure that all federal and local police departments can communicate by radio. Last time I checked, there was still no common, reliable frequency.
Frank Wolf’s crime summit is scheduled for late September. “I just want to get things started,” he says.
In caring about D.C., he got things started years ago.
Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at [email protected].
