[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1867-E1868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING MR. BENJAMIN S. PURSER, JR. FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE FEDERAL 
  BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION AND THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB CLEMENT

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 1, 1998

  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mr. Benjamin S. 
Purser, Jr. and his service to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 
the United States Department of Justice.
  Mr. Purser will retire from the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI), after twenty-eight years of faithful service, on October 3, 
1998. He will be greatly missed.
  Mr. Purser, a native Tennessean, now serves as a Senior Supervisory 
Resident Agent for the agency in Nashville, with oversight 
responsibility for all operations and investigations in Middle 
Tennessee. He began his career with the FBI in 1970, and following 
training, was assigned to offices in Baltimore, Maryland, and New York 
City. During his ten years in New York, Mr. Purser was assigned to the 
Organized Crime Division where he earned significant investigation 
expertise relating to white-collar and violent crime, and health care 
fraud.
  Mr. Purser gained notoriety throughout the South in the late 1980's 
and early 1990's, when he supervised ``Rocky Top,'' a sensitive and 
complicated undercover investigation of public corruption, which 
focused on abuse of

[[Page E1868]]

power by Tennessee public officials. This investigation resulted in the 
conviction of sixty-five state officials in U.S. District Court. He is 
also credited with forming the Violent Crimes Task Force in 1994, a 
successful partnership of six federal, state, and local law enforcement 
agencies.
  In 1996, Mr. Purser received both the FBI Medal of Valor, the 
organization's highest award to acknowledge bravery and courage, and 
the FBI Star, the equivalent of a Purple Heart, for his intervention in 
an attempted car jacking and kidnaping that occurred in 1984. A 
fugitive on the FBI's ``Ten Most Wanted'' list was killed during the 
incident.
  In an age where character and courage are often overlooked, I would 
like to commend my fellow Tennessean, and good friend since our 
university days, on his years of outstanding service to the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation and our nation. I applaud him for pursuing 
justice, no matter the cost.
  Mr. Purser's leadership skills have benefited his agency, and the 
people of Tennessee. He has served as an example of fortitude to his 
peers and his family. I wish him the best in his retirement from the 
FBI.

                          ____________________