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Committee Chairs Announce New Staff
by Heather Greenfield
A long-time attorney for the Senate Finance Committee is keeping his title and getting a promotion.
Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the panel, said Mark Prater will serve as deputy staff director for the GOP staff. Prater also will retain his previous title of chief tax counsel, which he has held for 13 years.
Prater joined the committee staff as tax counsel in 1990 and served through 1993, when he was promoted to chief tax counsel. Prater replaces Ted Totman as deputy staff director.
Totman is retiring after 23 years as a Senate staffer. He helped lead the Finance Committee on the chairman's staff from 2001 to 2007. He was staff director of the Special Committee on Aging from 1997 through 2000. He began working for Grassley in 1983 on the then-Labor and Human Resources Committee's panel on aging.
Grassley also announced that Stephen Schaefer will be chief international trade counsel for the Republicans on the committee. Schaefer previously served as a legal adviser to former International Trade Commissioner Lynn Bragg and was a law clerk for Judge Richard Goldberg of the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Claudia Bridgeford, meanwhile, has been promoted to international trade policy adviser for the committee. Bridgeford joined the committee staff in June 2005 as international trade policy assistant. Before that, she worked as an international trade analyst for the law firm of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also has a new staffer in Nancy Libin, who had handled national security issues for the Center for Democracy and Technology for nearly two years. "It will be fun to be in the majority," Libin said.
Libin will be counsel on judicial issues for Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and assigned to issues on the crime and drug subcommittee. Before CDT, Libin worked for the 2004 presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, two aides who have worked for Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., have been hired to direct policy for the House Science Committee, which Gordon now chairs.
Louis Finkel will be the committee's new director of policy and outreach. He previously served as Gordon's legislative director before leaving Capitol Hill six years ago to work for Exxon Mobil in its federal affairs office.
As a lobbyist, he handled education, energy and telecommunications issues, among others. He has also worked for former Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Fla. On his return to the Hill, Finkel said, "It's hard to say no to the majority."
Alisa Ferguson will coordinate legislative activities, serve as a policy adviser and manage budget and appropriations issues for Gordon's committee. She was a legislative assistant on his personal staff and assisted Gordon on appropriations issues, as well as his Energy and Commerce Committee work. Before Gordon, she worked for Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash. as a legislative assistant.
Martin Fills Top Staff Slots At The FCC
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has appointed Monica Shah Desai as the Media Bureau chief, Helen Domenici as the International Bureau chief and Donna Gregg as senior policy adviser to the U.S. ambassador to the World Radiocommunication Conference.
"Monica has led the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau with distinction during the past two years, and I know that she will continue to demonstrate the highest level of dedicated public service in the Media Bureau," Martin said.
Desai had been chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau since April 2005. She has worked at the commission since 1999 in various capacities. She previously served as an interim legal adviser to Martin on spectrum and international issues.
For the past five years, Domenici was at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as assistant director for telecommunications and information technology. She helped develop strategies and coordinate policies on telecom, spectrum and Internet issues. She worked in the FCC's International Bureau before going to OSTP.
Martin said he appreciated Domenici's government and communications experience and said the U.S. delegation will be well served by Gregg's extensive communications background and experience.
Gregg has been chief of the Media Bureau and before that spent most of her career in private law practice, having been a partner with Wiley Rein & Fielding and with Dow Lohnes & Albertson, where she specialized in communications and media law issues.
Nano Scientist Wins International Award
The scientist who invented a whole new field of chemistry dealing with nanoscience will receive the King Faisal International Prize for Science.
The foundation headed by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia recognized University of California at Los Angeles professor J. Fraser Stoddart, director of the California NanoSystems Institute, for his pioneering nanotechnology work, particularly in molecular recognition and self-assembly. Nanotechnology refers to engineering particles 1/100th the width of a human hair.
"I am both elated and excited by this honor," Stoddart said. It comes after he was honored with a knighthood in his native Britain.
The foundation described Stoddart's work as "cleverly, elegantly and meticulously done and carries tremendous creativity, originality and innovation."
"It has dramatically changed the way chemists think about molecular systems and how they can be used in the fabrication of molecular switches and machines such as molecular elevators and shuttles," the foundation said in a statement.
Roberto Peccei, vice chancellor for research at UCLA, said, "This honor recognizes the path-breaking work that Fraser has done in creating entirely new molecular structures, like molecular switches and molecular valves, which are of enormous practical importance."
Hurricane Video Tribute Wins Award
A belated video thank you for the efforts of broadcast news stations during Hurricane Katrina has won a 2006 Aegis Award. The video, "A Tribute to Gulf Coast Broadcasters," was featured during the 2006 NAB Education Foundation Service to America Awards. The Aegis Awards are the video industry's premier competition for peer recognition of outstanding video productions.
NAB Audio/Video Production Unit Manager Michael Khatcheressian produced and edited the video that illustrates the efforts of radio and TV stations to deliver the hurricane news.
"Michael's video captured the essence of the critical life-saving role provided by local broadcasters along the Gulf Coast," NAB President and CEO David Rehr said. "Employees lost homes and waded through alligator-infested waters to keep their signal on the air and their communities informed. This video salutes these broadcasters for their heroic service and dedication in response to the worst natural disaster in our nation's history."
Quote Of The Week
"There is a saying that used to be popular in football: We don't rebuild; we reload."
-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at the Republican National Committee winter meeting on the need for Republicans to build a reputation for cooperation.
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