REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Ireland
CANDIDATE: Claire D. Cronin
Claire Cronin currently serves as a Representative, and as Majority Leader, in the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During her service as a legislator, Ms. Cronin was also Vice Chair, and then Chair, of the Committee on the Judiciary. As Chair of the Committee Ms. Cronin was the architect of difficult and controversial pieces of legislation, including major criminal justice reform and police reform. Ms. Cronin has also served since 2003 as a Mediator/Arbitrator for Commonwealth Mediation in Brockton, MA, a role that has honed her consensus building skills and her ability to listen to the concerns of others. Those skills, coupled with Ms. Cronin’s keen understanding of the challenges of governance, her demonstrated ability to address complex policy issues and her effectiveness in building coalitions representing diverse communities make her well-qualified to serve as Ambassador to Ireland.
Prior to her election as Representative, Ms. Cronin maintained the Law Office of Claire Cronin in Brockton, Massachusetts. Earlier she was first a law clerk, and then an Associate Attorney at Wynn & Wynn, P.C. in Raynham, Massachusetts. Before that she worked in Liaison and Constituent Services in the Office of Massachusetts Governor, Edward King. She is as a member of the Brockton Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P and of The Charity Guild and was on the Board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education in Easton. She also served on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and the Easton Democratic Town Committee.
Ms. Cronin earned her B.A. from Stonehill College and her J.D. degree from Suffolk University. She is the recipient of multiple honors and awards including the Jewish Community Relations Council Legislative Leadership Award (2020) and the Emerge Massachusetts 2020 Woman of the Year.