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“RECOGNIZING JESSICA RAE HERRERA-FLANIGAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1138 on June 4, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RECOGNIZING JESSICA RAE HERRERA-FLANIGAN
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HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jessica Rae Herrera-Flanigan, Staff Director and General Counsel of the Committee on Homeland Security, for her dedication to the security of the Nation. As the chairman of the committee, it is with sadness that I report that on Friday, June 6, she will be leaving us for the private sector. I speak for all the committee's members and staff in saying that she will be missed.
Jessica has the distinction of being the longest serving Democratic staffer on the committee, having joined it in 2003 when it was merely a select committee. She has played a pivotal role, first as Counsel under former Ranking Member Jim Turner, and then as my top aide, in the committee's development and growth over the last 5 years.
Jessica was a well-respected cybercrime prosecutor and former Department of Justice official before coming to the Hill. With the attacks of September 11, her knowledge of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection put her on the frontlines of homeland security, before it was known as that. She came to the House for the right reasons shortly thereafter--because she believed we could do better to secure our Nation.
I truly believe that Jessica symbolizes the future of our Nation's national security leaders. Leaders that look more like America. The daughter of Leonel and the late Virginia Ann Herrera, she grew up in the southeast Texas oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, which she saw struck by Hurricane Rita during her tenure on the committee. With the help of student loan and work-study programs, she graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. She is, I've been told, the first and only Latina to ever serve as a staff director of a full committee in the House. And don't let her 4'11'' frame fool you--she is a 1st degree blackbelt and a sharpshooter.
Any recognition would be incomplete if I did not thank Tom Flanigan for lending us so much of his wife's time and energy. He not only stood by her, but by the committee as we tackled its creation, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the 9/11 implementation bill, and countless other homeland security issues over the last 5 years.
In sum, I welcome this opportunity to recognize Jessica Herrera-
Flanigan for her tireless work, patriotism, and professional dedication to Congress, the Committee of Homeland Security, and the Nation.
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