Shirley Chater Is Nominated to Lead an Independent Social Security Agency

In November 1994, Shirley Chater was nominated to continue leading the Social Security Administration as it prepared to become an independent agency in 1995. The Daily Item’s Washington report identified her as a Shamokin native and a Sunbury High School graduate.

Chater had been commissioner since October 1993. President Bill Clinton’s nomination would carry that leadership into the agency’s new institutional arrangement. The account also reported praise from Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.

The November 16 report captured a decision in progress: a presidential nomination, not automatic confirmation. It offered a specific connection between Chater’s local roots and the administration of a national program.