Mr. Schiff: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Patricia Clothier for more than twenty three years of dedicated service to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Patricia Clothier was sworn into the FBI on April 6, 1981. Since then, she has worked from the Phoenix, Charleston, South Carolina, and Los Angeles Divisions throughout her career with the Bureau in addition to traveling to several countries to conduct field work. Beginning as an agent working against organized crime, Clothier worked on anti-narcotic and anti-corruption cases, including specific cases against the Mexican Mafia and Hell's Angels. Becoming the first female bomb technician only seven years after she became an agent, Clothier was deployed to many sites to work on high-profile cases, including the terrorist bombings at the U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing.
Clothier traveled to Montana to collect information from the cabin for the case against Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber. Ms. Clothier retired earlier this fall as a supervisor in charge of the Counter Terrorism Squad and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Her fellow agents looked to her as a supervisor who brought an ultimate sense of loyalty to the FBI in addition to someone who always stood strong for her beliefs while also being there to coach newer agents. Clothier remained a field agent even as a veteran to the Bureau, which only bolstered her credibility among the law enforcement community and colleagues.
I ask all members of Congress to join me today in congratulating Patricia Clothier for her exemplary professional and public service career, and for her immense dedication to the community and the nation.