[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 14 (Monday, April 7, 1997)]
[Page 447]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Resignation of Eljay B. Bowron as Director of the 
United States Secret Service

April 2, 1997

    Eljay Bowron has done a superb job as Director of the United States 
Secret Service, and I am accepting his resignation with regret. I have 
great admiration for what he has accomplished during his service to our 
country.
    For 23 years, Eljay Bowron has focused his intelligence, judgment, 
and deep professionalism on implementing, improving, and reforming the 
critical national missions of the United States Secret Service. 
Following his tenure with the Detroit Police Department, Eljay began his 
career as a special agent in the Chicago field office. From there, he 
engaged successfully in a series of assignments investigating crimes, 
especially counterfeiting and financial crimes, serving in the Secret 
Service's intelligence division, and finally participating in the Secret 
Service's protective mission.
    As Director, Eljay has been fond of saying, ``When you stop 
changing, you stop growing,'' and this reformist instinct marked a 
tenure of great accomplishment. Before strategic planning initiatives 
were a regular part of Government management, Eljay formed teams to 
examine every Secret Service function. He changed the way Secret Service 
agents are trained; he consolidated the agency's forgery and financial 
crime investigative units; he made a powerful case for closing 
Pennsylvania Avenue; and he led the production of the new currency with 
anticounterfeiting improvements. For these reasons and more, his tenure 
as Director will long be remembered by admirers of law enforcement and 
the Secret Service.
    I want to take this opportunity to thank Eljay's wife, Sandy, and 
his son, Brandon, for accepting the pressures and difficulties that 
arise from being a part of the Secret Service family. They endured a 
number of moves, as many Secret Service families do, from one great 
American city to another. I hope that Eljay's decision to join Ameritech 
will mean greater freedom for Eljay to enjoy Brandon's interest in 
baseball and development as a pitcher. Family means so much to Eljay--
you can see that with the pride he exhibits in carrying and keeping his 
father's badge from the Detroit Police Department. Eljay's father would 
be very proud of his accomplishments, especially on this day.
    On behalf of my family, the Vice President and his family, the 
former Presidents and their families, indeed on behalf of everyone who 
has felt the reassurance of being in the care of the Secret Service 
agents led by Eljay Bowron, let me thank the distinguished Director of 
the U.S. Secret Service for his remarkable devotion to duty and our 
country. He will be missed.