Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Copyright: 2003 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas Contact: http://www.star-telegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/162 Author: Dave Montgomery Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( www.dea.gov ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/bush.htm (Bush, George) TEXAN IN LINE TO BE 1ST FEMALE DEA CHIEF WASHINGTON - Texan Karen Tandy, a top Justice Department lawyer who heads a national drug enforcement task force, is on track to become the first woman to run the Drug Enforcement Administration. Tandy, 49, who grew up in Hurst, breezed through a Senate hearing Wednesday with strong assurances that she will ultimately be confirmed by the full Senate. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., promised Senate action in "short order." If confirmed, the career prosecutor Tandy will help oversee the Bush administration's war on drugs, an illicit multibillion-dollar industry. An estimated 15 million Americans use illegal drugs, feeding international smuggling rings stretching from China to Colombia and across the border in Mexico. Tandy, who was nominated to the DEA post by President Bush in June, has been praised for heading and revitalizing a 20-year-old nationwide task force that has secured more than 17,000 drug convictions and sentences since she took over in 1999. The task force encompasses three federal departments and 2,400 agents. An associate deputy attorney general, Tandy has spent nearly half her life chasing criminals, but her reputation as a crime fighter contrasts with her other persona as a suburban mom. As a Girl Scout leader in Fairfax County, Va., she helped organize food drives for homeless children. She and her husband, former federal agent Steven Pomerantz, have two teen-age daughters. Tandy is a 1971 graduate of Hurst's L.D. Bell High School, where she was in the National Honor Society and was voted Miss L.D. Bell. Among awards listed on her 20-page resume is a 1971 employee scholarship from Six Flags Over Texas. After graduating from Texas Tech School of Law in 1974, Tandy worked briefly as a clerk for a federal judge in Lubbock and then joined the organized-crime section of the Justice Department. She made a steady ascent to the department's upper ranks. "There are few people in this country who have the practical experience and intellectual capability that you do," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, a former U.S. attorney, told Tandy during her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Tandy was introduced at the hearing by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who called Tandy an "excellent choice." Outlining her goals for the drug enforcement agency, Tandy promised to bear down on the "money supply" of drug operations, but didn't offer specifics. She also pledged an aggressive effort to retain and promote DEA personnel, noting that nearly half the senior staff is up for retirement in 18 months. She joked that "nearly half the DEA is in the room right now," noting the dozens of agency officials behind her at the hearing. Her husband was also present. As head of the DEA, Tandy would supervise nearly 4,000 agents throughout the United States and in 56 foreign countries. Operating on a budget of $1.6 billion, the DEA is the only federal agency whose sole mission is drug-law enforcement. Grant Ashley, assistant director of the Justice Department's criminal investigative division, described Tandy as "tireless and exceptionally bright," with extensive knowledge of the nation's drug operations. Tandy prosecuted several major cases as an assistant U.S. attorney during the 1980s, including an 18-month grand jury investigation that resulted in convictions of 20 defendants and the seizure of assets valued at more than $8 million, including a Tiffany lamp collection worth more than $1 million. After six of the defendants fled to Costa Rica during the investigation, Tandy led a team to the Central American nation to seek their return, securing the first extraditions ever from Costa Rica. Tandy wrote the handbook that U.S. attorneys use to conduct criminal forfeiture proceedings. She has supervised major anti-drug initiatives by the Justice Department and helped develop the department's domestic drug-enforcement strategy. Karen Tandy Birth date: Oct. 24, 1953, Tarrant County Education: L.D. Bell High School, Hurst, 1971; Texas Tech University, bachelor of science in education, 1974; Texas Tech School of Law, law degree, 1977 Career: Judicial clerk, Lubbock, 1978; 1978-present, various positions in U.S. Justice Department; current position, associate deputy-attorney general and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Family: Husband, Steven Pomerantz; two teen-age daughters ONLINE: Drug Enforcement Administration, www.usdoj.gov/dea - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens