President Joe Biden has nominated Patricia Ross, granddaughter of Mike and Mary Lou Ross of Lewis Run, for assistant secretary of congressional and legislative affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs.
Ross, who comes from a family of veterans, currently serves as senior policy advisor in the Office of the Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a position she has held since 2011.
Pelosi issued a statement about Ross’ nomination.
“President Biden has chosen an expert of domestic policymaking in appointing Patricia Ross to this critical position. Her commitment to our veterans is ironclad and personal, with a long line of veterans in her family,” Pelosi said. “Patti has been a critical asset to the Speaker’s Office and the Democratic Caucus for a decade. Her leadership will be important to the Veteran Affairs Department — and the millions of veterans, families and caregivers who rely on it — in her new position.”
She continued, “In her ten years in a leadership office, Patti has earned the respect and confidence of members and staff on both sides of the aisle for her legislative acumen and strong command of a broad range of domestic policy arenas. In addition to veterans affairs, these include education and agriculture, which affect all Americans.
“She has been a key resource for our Caucus and Congress, including as a conduit between lawmakers and the veteran community. In particular, I am grateful for her years of leadership for my Veterans Service Organization Roundtables, which ensure that those who have donned the uniform have a voice in the halls of Congress,” Pelosi said.
She offered her congratulations, and that of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Over the past decade, Ross has led a broad domestic policy portfolio in both the Speaker’s Leadership and Congressional Offices, covering veterans’ affairs and military families, agriculture and nutrition, education and labor. She has spearheaded major bipartisan agreements in these arenas, including the COVID-19 response, CHOICE Act, MISSION Act, Forever GI Bill, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, Deborah Sampson Act, Every Student Succeeds Act, 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, and ending the Widows and Kiddie Tax.
As Senior Policy Advisor, Ross has supported and helped coordinate multiple bipartisan traveling Congressional delegations, including the 75th anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy and Battle of the Bulge, as well as staffed multiple State of the Union addresses, Inaugurations, and Joint Addresses to Congress by heads of state.
Ross is a graduate of The College of Wooster (Ohio) and currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her partner, also a veteran, and two dogs.
She is the daughter of Dave Ross of Elma, N.Y., a veteran of the U.S. Army; a niece of Dr. Peter Ross, who served in the U.S. Army Dental Corps; and granddaughter of Mike Ross, who was in the reserves in World War II.
Her father told The Era, “I’m very proud of her and I’m sure she’ll be successful as she continues her career in the legislature.”
