NATION : New Congressman Faces Jail

WASHINGTON — Facing a possible jail sentence, Houston lawyer Craig Washington was sworn in as Texas’s 18th District congressman today, only one day after being found in contempt of court for the second time in two weeks.

Found in contempt of court in Harris County, Tex., Monday by a judge who accused him of abandoning his clients, Washington was flanked by members of the Texas congressional delegation as he was sworn in during a brief floor ceremony at the start of the 1990 congressional session.

Washington, a Democrat, won a special election in his district in December to replace the late Rep. Mickey Leland, also a Democrat, who died in a plane crash with 15 others during a hunger mission to Ethiopia last August.

“I could never replace Mickey Leland,” Washington told his new colleagues after his swearing in. “I’m merely his successor. I’m not here to serve as king of the hill. I’m on the bottom of the hill, and I need your help.”