[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 3 (Thursday, January 5, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E27]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF PATRICK J. MITCHELL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 5, 2017

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the loss of a 
great Arizonan and American, Patrick J. Mitchell, 61, from Yuma, 
Arizona, who worked in Washington for many years, on November 27, 2016. 
Pat was a trusted advisor and advocate for many in Congress and he will 
be missed as a powerful advocate (with an Arizona perspective) for 
education, environment and natural resources, and labor issues in 
Washington DC councils.
  Born in Yuma, AZ, on April 13, 1955, Pat was an accomplished athlete 
at Yuma High School where he was elected student body president. He 
went on to his beloved University of Arizona where he was elected 
student body president and from which he graduated in 1977. He received 
his Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University in 1981. Pat spent 
the next 35 years in politics and government fighting to improve the 
lives of others. He served as a congressional aide to Arizona Senator 
Dennis DeConcini, chief of staff to Representative Louise Slaughter 
from New York, political advisor to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano 
and the late Representative Mo Udall from Arizona, and senior advisor 
to two presidential campaigns, including serving with the Simon 
campaign in Iowa. Pat also was a special assistant attorney general for 
the State of Arizona. He went on to start his own government affairs 
firm, Strategic Impact in Washington D.C., where he focused on 
appropriations, water and land management, and higher education issues. 
A beloved Arizona Wildcat fan, Pat was a member of the UA Bobcat Senior 
Honorary Society and served on the university's alumni board. He was 
also deeply involved with the Yuma community and in supporting Yuma's 
Catholic High School.
  Pat cherished his family and he is predeceased by his parents, Henry 
and Helen (Curry) Mitchell of Yuma, and is survived by his brother 
Bryan Mitchell, sister Kathleen Dyer, nephews Ian and Dan Mitchell, and 
grandnieces Erin and Emily Mitchell. He often spoke of his father's 
military service to the nation.
  Pat worked hard to ensure that the working families of Arizona had a 
voice when it came to national policy and debates, whether related to 
access to higher education or the natural beauty of the Nation. Pat was 
among those that rose to the challenge in a Republic that needs the 
best to engage in these national discussions. Few in this world loved 
their state and its people more.

                          ____________________