[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S14]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Tribute to Clinton Jerome Hill

  Mr. President, I would also like to talk a little bit today about 
another incredible American whom I have come to know. Both my husband 
and I, Paul and I, got to know this individual over the years. He has 
become a friend. He is an incredible American, and today is his 
birthday. His name is Clinton Jerome Hill.
  Clint is a true hero, the iconic Secret Service agent who jumped onto 
a moving car while bullets flew in an effort to save President Kennedy 
from an assassin.
  Born on this day in 1932, Clint Hill grew up in the tiny town of 
Washburn, ND. He was a good student; he loved music; and he was an 
outstanding athlete. Clint went on to attend Concordia College in 
Moorhead, MN, where he was a standout football and baseball player, 
graduating in 1954.
  Though Clint had visions of being a history teacher and athletics 
coach, he was drafted immediately into the U.S. Army, where he worked 
in counterintelligence in an Army field office in Denver, CO.
  In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower happened to be in Colorado on 
vacation when the President suffered a heart attack and was 
hospitalized for 7 weeks. That is when Clint ended up meeting several 
members of Eisenhower's Secret Service detail. He was deeply impressed 
with the dignity and demeanor of these fine men. At that time, there 
were just 269 agents in the entire Secret Service organization and, in 
1958, Clint became one of them.
  A year later, Agent Hill was assigned to the White House at age 27. 
He was one of a handful of men responsible for protecting the President 
of the United States. In 1959 and 1960, Clint Hill traveled with 
President Eisenhower on his goodwill tours to Europe, Asia, India, the 
Middle East, and South America.
  When John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960, Clint was 
assigned to protect the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. Both President 
and Mrs. Kennedy were fond of Agent Hill and trusted him implicitly. 
Wherever Mrs. Kennedy went, Clint Hill was by her side.
  And so it was that Agent Hill accompanied President and Mrs. Kennedy 
to Texas on November 22, 1963. Clint was present at the horrifying 
moment in Dealey Plaza when President Kennedy, riding in an open 
convertible, was shot. Clint immediately began to run toward the 
President's car to protect him, and many of us have seen that dramatic 
footage: Jackie Kennedy extending her hand back to Agent Hill, who 
leapt onto the back of the moving car and jumped into the vehicle as it 
sped away to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
  After President Kennedy's tragic assassination, Clint Hill continued 
to protect Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children. Then, in 1964, he 
was transferred back to the White House. And in 1967, he became the 
Special Agent in Charge of Presidential Protection for President Lyndon 
Johnson. Throughout 1968, Clint was a Secret Service agent who had 
LBJ's back.
  Clint Hill devoted his life to the Secret Service, ultimately being 
promoted to Assistant Director in Charge of all Protective Forces. He 
was married, had two sons, but like so many selfless Secret Service 
agents, he missed countless holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays.
  In 1975, Clint retired from the Secret Service, a job and 
organization that he loved. In the years since, he has written three 
best-selling books about his work with his coauthor and now wife, Lisa 
McCubbin.
  Today is Clint's 90th birthday. So, today, I want to pay tribute to a 
true American hero, a man who was willing to put his life on the line, 
not once but time and again to protect our leaders.
  Now, I know something of the sacrifice this involves. My husband Paul 
is a retired Secret Service agent, and I am familiar with the 
commitment it takes for an agent to walk out that door every day to 
defend the President from threats. So on behalf of Paul, myself, the 
entire Masto family, we want to wish a happy birthday to our friend 
Clint Hill. Thank you for your service to our country and our sincere 
best wishes for many more wonderful years ahead.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.