By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is vowing to stay on the job in the face of heavy criticism over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Gonzalez traveled to St. Louis Thursday to promote efforts to crack down on child sex abuse.
The Attorney General held a roundtable discussion with local law enforcement authorities about preventing sex crimes against children.
Afterwards, Gonzalez held a brief news conference. He promised to stay on the job and work with Congress on its investigation into the prosecutors' firings.
"I'm not going to resign," Gonzalez said. "I'm going to stay focused on protecting our kids. There's a lot of work that needs to be done around the country."
Gonzalez also said no U.S. Attorney was fired for improper reasons.
The Senate and House Judiciary Committees have authorized subpoenas for top Bush Administration aides involved in the firings, including Karl Rove and Harriet Meiers.
However the White House says those officials will not testify if Congress issues the subpoenas.