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Selected
Bios > A-F
Independent, subject
matter experts who know how Washington works
Some
of the people who have written for us or taught at previous TCN and CQ programs include:
 KEN ACKERMAN, counsel to the law firm of Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz in Washington, DC, is a 25-year veteran of senior positions in Congress, the executive branch, and financial regulation. As administrator of USDA's Risk Management Agency from 1993-201, Mr. Ackerman headed the federal crop insurance program that provides coverage to over 1 million American farm producers under a public-private partnership. In 1994 and 2000, he spearheaded the Clinton administration efforts to upgrade the
program through major legislative reforms.
Mr. Ackerman served two tours in the U.S. Senate, first as counsel to the Committee on Governmental Affairs (1975-1981) under then-Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois, and later as special counsel to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (1988-1993) under its then-chairman Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. In between, he held senior legal positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates markets in physical commodities and financial derivatives.
During his career, Mr. Ackerman has testified at dozens of congressional hearings, investigated and developed legislation on topics from budget reconciliation to farm policy to electronic eavesdropping to civil service reform to
financial market oversight. He has appeared before the media and public groups including the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, CNN, National Public Radio, AgDay television, AgriTalk radio, bar associations, and government officials in London, Warsaw, Vienna, and Tel Aviv.
Mr. Ackerman has published many articles and three books on legal and historical topics including
Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York,
The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday 1869 and
The Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield.
He was profiled in Government Executive magazine in 1997 and included by National Journal that year in its "Washington 100" list of top federal decision-makers. He is a graduate of Brown University and Georgetown University Law Center.
He is the author of the
Federal Regulatory Process Poster
(TheCapitol.Net, 2006).
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 GORDON ADAMS teaches
international affairs and national security at the Elliott School of
International Affairs at The George Washington University in
Washington, DC. He also directs the Security Policy Studies Program
at the Elliott School and is the field advisor for National Security
Policy within the Doctoral Program in Public Policy.
He was previously Deputy Director of
the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London,
where he participated in management and planning and developed the
IISS corporate membership program. Between February 1993 and
December 1997 Dr Adams was Associate Director at the Office of
Management and Budget, responsible for oversight of all US foreign
affairs and national security budgeting for the Executive Office of
the President. Dr Adams was founder and Director of the Defense
Budget Project, one of Washington's leading analytical institutions
working on the defense budget, defense economics and defense policy
issues.
Dr. Adams received his PhD in Political Science from Columbia
University, was a Fulbright Fellow at the College of Europe in
Bruges, Belgium, and graduated magna cum laude in Political Science
and Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University.
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RAYMOND J. AHEARN is the Head of the International Trade and Finance
Section at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In this capacity, he
supervises the work of 12 analysts who provide research and support to
Congress on a broad range of international economic issues.
Mr. Ahearn began his career in the Economics Division of CRS in 1975. In
1988 he assumed the position of Specialist in Trade Relations in the Foreign
Affairs and National Defense Division of CRS and in 1998 he began his
current assignment. During 1993-1994 he served as Director of Trade Strategy
for Japan in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
During his CRS career, he has authored a number of reports on bilateral and
multilateral trade issues. His most recent reports include Trade Conflict
and the U.S.-European Union Economic Relationship, U.S.-French Commercial
Ties, and Europe’s New Trade Agenda. In addition to CRS reports, he has also
written a number of articles that have been published in books, journals,
and newspapers.
Mr. Ahearn received a BA in political science from Union College
in 1971, an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1973, and an MA in economics from
the George Washington University in 1980. He is also a 1991 graduate of the National War College in Washington, DC.
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 FANNIE ALLEN is a certified Etiquette and International Protocol Consultant and graduate of The Protocol School of Washington - the nation's leading school of protocol. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees, Ms. Allen was afforded the opportunity to travel to numerous countries as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves and through affiliations with international agencies and public departments.
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 MICHAEL A. ANDREWS represented the 25th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983-1994. During that time he served as president of the freshman class, received several awards for legislative work, and was named one of Congress' "Rising Stars" in 1990 by the National Journal. He served as a member of the Committee of the Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over federal tax legislation, health care, trade and welfare policies. As a member of the Health Subcommittee, Representative Andrews contributed as a key participant in the healthcare reform debate. He served on the Budget and Joint Economic Committees, and he worked to insure the passage of GATT and NAFTA.
Representative Andrews now works on public policy with an emphasis on healthcare law and federal income taxation, providing clients with key strategic advice and representation on matters before the Congress. After receiving his Bachelors degree from the University of Texas and his JD from Southern Methodist University, Representative Andrews worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan Hannay and then as Assistant District Attorney in Harris County, Texas.
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 MARTHA ANGLE is associate
editor of Congressional Quarterly, directing and editing daily news
stories for its proprietary website, CQ.com, and the daily
publication, CQ Today. She also writes and produces the free
daily CQ Midday Update email.
Before assuming her current position, Ms. Angle was both a daily
news editor and an assistant managing editor for the CQ Weekly,
specializing in domestic policy issues. She was a reporter for 13
years for the now-defunct Washington Star, covering Congress and
national politics.
In 2006, Ms. Angle received the
first annual Poynter Award from Congressional Quarterly, awarded
to
an exceptional longtime CQ employee.
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 LINDA M. AUGLIS is director of
political affairs for the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
The NBWA represents nearly 2,200 family businesses that distribute
malt beverage products. Ms. Auglis is responsible for the management
of the NBWA Political Action Committee (NBWA PAC), which raises over
$2.7 million per two-year election cycle to assist pro-beer
wholesaler, pro-business candidates in their elections to the United
States Congress.
In addition to managing the NBWA PAC,
Ms. Auglis serves as one of NBWA's lobbyists on Capitol Hill and is
responsible for the political and grassroots activities of the
association. Ms. Auglis manages the annual congressional Oktoberfest
and the Capitol Hill Education Series that NBWA hosts for members of
Congress and their staffs each year. In Fortune Magazine's "Power
25," Fortune ranked NBWA the 8th most influential group in
Washington, DC. Ms. Auglis serves on the Board of Directors for the
National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC).
NABPAC's mission is to promote and defend the rights of PACs to
freely participate in the political process.
Ms. Auglis holds a Bachelor of
Science degree from Towson State University in Baltimore, MD.
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STANLEY BACH currently serves as counselor, Parliamentary Advisory Services. Previously, he worked in and for the United States Congress from 1974 until his retirement in 2002. He first served on staffs in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, as a legislative assistant, administrative assistant, and committee counsel. In 1976, he joined the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress, where he became a senior specialist in the legislative process. He provided expert, non-partisan assistance to Representatives, Senators, and their staffs and committees on legislative procedures and strategies. His research and essays on Congress also were published by the Brookings Institution and various scholarly journals.
Mr. Bach has lectured in Washington on Congress and the legislative process for many organizations, including TheCapitol.Net, Congressional Quarterly, the Energy, Interior, and State Departments, and the Office of Personnel Management, and in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for the Agency for International Development and the United States Information Agency. He also has been a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In recent years, he has contributed to parliamentary development programs, especially in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and most recently in Yemen, Angola, and the West Bank, under the auspices of such organizations as the Ford Foundation, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, and the United Nations.
A graduate of the University of Chicago, he received a PhD in political science from Yale University.
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MICHAEL J. BARRON, Colonel, U.S. Army, is the Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington DC. He is responsible for providing direct support to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in his duties as the principal military advisor to the President of the United States, the National Security Council and the Secretary of Defense. He is directly responsible to the Chairman for maintaining liaison and relationships with Congress.
Jesuit educated at the University of San Francisco, Colonel Barron earned a BA in History and received his commission in the Infantry, Regular Army in May 1980, following graduation from the University of San Francisco as a Distinguished Military Graduate.
A career Infantry Officer and Army Strategist, Colonel Barron has held key tactical command and staff positions in Infantry and Armor units through Brigade level. He has served in the 2nd Armored Division, 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) and the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized). He is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom and has participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations in the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. He has also served in important senior level national security strategy and defense positions.
Colonel Barron holds master's degrees in Government and Politics (MA) from the Johns Hopkins University, in Public Administration (MPA) from the City University of New York and in National Security and Strategic Studies (MA) from the U.S. Army War College. He is a graduate of the program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and he was a Fellow with the Seminar XXI Program on Foreign Politics, International Relations and the National Interest with the Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His military education includes graduation from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, the United States Marine Corps Staff College and the United States Army War College.
Selected as a Congressional Fellow in 1996-1997, Colonel Barron served as the Legislative Assistant for National Security Affairs to the Speaker of the House, the Honorable Newt Gingrich. He later served as the Army Legislative Liaison to the Senate for the Secretary of the Army. Colonel Barron has also served on the faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point as an instructor and assistant professor and as the personal aide de camp to the Superintendent, United States Military Academy.
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JILL BARSHAY is a senior writer at CQ Weekly covering economic policy and lobbying. Prior to CQ, Ms. Barshay worked at the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Dow Jones News Services. She has also written for the Financial Times of London and The New York Times while based in Moscow and Kiev in the mid 1990s.
Ms. Barshay holds a BA in history and Russian language and literature from Brown University and a master's degree in political economy from the London School of Economics.
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 JAMES L. BAYLESS, JR. is a veteran legislative and regulatory attorney and shareholder in Winstead, Sechrest & Minick's Government Relations/Public Policy Practice and Winstead Consulting Group. A native of Houston, Mr. Bayless has 27 yeas of experience in Washington, DC as a practitioner, private consultant, and former U.S. government official.
Throughout his career, he has represented and advised clients on legislative and regulatory matters before the U.S. government.
Before joining Winstead, Mr. Bayless co-founded and served as the managing partner of three legislative-consulting and public affairs firms, providing legislative and regulatory counseling for U.S. and international corporate clients on matters before the U.S. government, principally in the energy, electric-utility, hospitality, telecommunications, and transportation industries.
Prior to entering private practice, he held three senior positions in the U.S. government. As legislative counsel to Senator John Tower of Texas, he developed legislative strategies for all tax and international trade-related matters pending before the United States Senate.
During the administration of President Ronald Reagan, Bayless served in the White House as Associate Director of the Office of
Presidential Personnel, where he identified and recommended candidates for presidential appointment to policy-making positions at the Departments of the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal regulatory agencies overseeing economic policy and the financial services industry. Subsequently, he was appointed by the Reagan administration to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this capacity, he helped to secure congressional approval of the administration's international trade legislative agenda.
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JENNIFER BERIGAN was a
Political Representative for the International Association of Fire
Fighters, where in addition to developing and implementing the IAFF's political programs,
she managed FIREPAC, the union's
political action committee (PAC). Her PAC responsibilities included
fundraising, managing FIREPAC donor programs and filing appropriate
state and federal campaign finance disclosures. During her tenure,
FIREPAC raised a record $1.3 million during the 1999-2000
election cycle.
Prior to joining the IAFF, Ms. Berigan was a Legislative Analyst at
Stateside Associates, a state government relations firm in
Arlington, Virginia. She previously staffed the Tennessee Senate's
General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee and served as
Finance Director for the Tennessee Democratic Party during the 1996
election cycle.
In 1997, Ms. Berigan was named one of
the nation's outstanding young political professionals by the
American Council of Young Political Leaders and participated in a
political exchange tour to Australia. She earned a BA in
International Studies and Political Science from St. John Fisher
College, Rochester, NY, and received an MPhil in Peace Studies from
University of Dublin, Trinity College.
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 EDWIN R. BETHUNE is a former Member of Congress and a former partner in the law firm of Bracewell & Patterson. He specialized in representing clients on public policy matters before Congress, the Executive Branch, and the courts. Mr. Bethune represented the second district of Arkansas in Congress from 1979 to 1985. During that time, he served on the Budget, Banking, and Small Business Committees. Mr. Bethune is also a former FBI agent, and he has served as general counsel to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association since 1988. He also served as Chairman of the 9th District Federal Home Loan Bank Board from 1973 to 1977.
From 1954 to 1957, Mr. Bethune served in the Marine Corps attaining the rank of sergeant, with service in Korea as the Korean War was ending. He received his BS in Business Administration and his JD from the University of Arkansas.
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JEFF BIGGS serves as director
of the American Political Science Association (APSA)'s Congressional
Fellowship Program (CFP). In its forty-fifth year, the CFP annually
provides 40-50 political scientists, journalists, federal
executives, and other professionals from the U.S. and abroad with a
10-month working experiences in the offices of members of Congress,
congressional committees, and seminars on national politics and
Congress. Dr. Biggs has also been a visiting scholar at the Library
of Congress' Congressional Research Service (CRS), and was a faculty
member of the CRS Parliamentary Institute for Research and Analysis.
Dr. Biggs spent 21 years in the
Foreign Service holding positions with the U.S. Information Service
as press secretary/spokesman at U.S. embassies in Brazil and
Portugal, as office director for press and public affairs in the
State Department's Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, and as deputy
chief of mission in Bolivia. A former APSA congressional fellow, Dr.
Biggs served from 1987-1994 as press secretary/spokesman for
Representative Thomas S. Foley of Washington during his service as
Majority Leader and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
After December 1994, he was a senior advisor to the director of the
President's Office of National Drug Control Policy and a visiting
fellow a the Freedom Forum studying the media and Congress.
Dr. Biggs received his BA in history
from Harvard University; an MA in political science from Victoria
University of Wellington, New Zealand, as a Fulbright student; and a
PhD in American studies from George Washington University. He is a
recipient of a Dirksen Congressional Center Research Grant Award.
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STEVEN BILLET is the Chief of Staff at the Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at The George Washington University. He came to GW in 2002 after an eighteen year career with AT&T. Since joining the GSPM he initiated and directed the operation of a graduate certificate program in PAC management, and led the development and execution of a number of executive programs. In addition to his administrative responsibilities he teaches courses on "PAC Management" and "Globalization and International Advocacy."
Steven joined AT&T as the Director of Government Affairs for Maryland and Delaware in 1983 after working in the congressional offices of John Brademas and Barbara Mikulski. He was instrumental in re-establishing AT&T's government affairs presence in both states after the 1984 AT&T divestiture.
In 1988 Steven moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he directed the creation and operation of AT&T's public affairs organization for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1993, he directed the legislative effort for AT&T on GATT and NAFTA. He later assumed leadership of the AT&T PAC and managed lobbying efforts for the U.S. Congress. In 1999, he moved back into the international arena, becoming the Washington Public Affairs Director for Concert, an AT&T/British Telecom global venture.
Steven holds a BA and an MA from East Carolina University and a PhD from the University of Notre Dame.
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ROBERT L. BIXBY is executive
director of The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan, grassroots
organization dedicated to educating the public about federal budget
issues and their consequences for the future. The Concord Coalition
was founded in 1992 by former U.S. Senators Warren Rudman (R-NH) and
the late Paul Tsongas (D-MA), and former Secretary of Commerce Peter
G. Peterson. Mr. Bixby was named Executive Director in October 1999,
after serving as the Coalition's Policy Director, National Field
Director, and in other capacities since 1992. He frequently
represents Concord's views on budget and entitlement reform policy
at congressional hearings and in the national media.
Mr. Bixby has a BA in political
science from American University in Washington, DC, a JD from George
Mason University School of Law in Arlington, VA, and a master's
degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University.
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WILLIE BLACKLOW is an Adjunct Professor at the Elliott School of
International Affairs at The George Washington University. He served as
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications for more than three
years at the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he was
the Pentagon’s designee on the White House Interagency Working Group.
Mr. Blacklow spent 19 years on Capitol Hill, the last six of which as Press
Secretary to Senator Carl Levin of Michigan. He was Press
Secretary to Congressman George Miller of California and prior to that was
Administrative Assistant and Press Secretary for Representative Toby Moffett. He has also been active in a number of US presidential and senatorial campaigns.
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REBECCA K. BLOOD has more than twenty five years of public policy, legislative and regulatory experience at the local, state, and federal levels of government, with expertise in energy and environmental issues.
At the American Public Power Association (APPA), Rebecca Blood served most recently as a Senior Policy Advisor analyzing, devising, and executing policy strategies on major issues affecting the electric utility industry. Her focus included: utility restructuring, renewable energy, energy conservation, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, hydropower licensing reform, and global climate change issues. She also directed APPA's
Policy Makers' Council consisting of locally-elected officials and
mayors from public power member communities.
Before coming to the APPA, Ms. Blood served as a consultant with APCO Associates, representing electric utility clients before Congress and the administration.
Previously, Ms. Blood was Assistant Director of the Washington, DC office of Ohio Governor Richard Celeste. In that capacity she represented the Governor before Congress and the Executive Branch on a range of energy and environmental issues, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, federal facility cleanup and enforcement issues, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and a number of Great Lakes regional water programs.
Prior to working for the State of Ohio, Ms. Blood served as Legislative Assistant to Representative Phil Sharp (D-IN), as Legislative Aide to Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), and as a Constituent Service Representative for Senator Levin in Michigan.
Ms. Blood
received an MPA in legislative and regulatory Affairs from the
George Washington University and a BA in political science from
Michigan State University.
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 GLEN BOLGER is one of the country's leading Republican political strategists and pollsters. He is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, a national political and public affairs survey research firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and major associations.
In the 2004 elections, Mr. Bolger handled the polling for six winning Senators, including John Thune of South Dakota, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Mr. Bolger also polled for 27 members of Congress, including four freshmen. Overall, Mr. Bolger polls for eleven U.S. Senators, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and five Governors.
For its work in the 2004 elections, Public Opinion Strategies was congratulated by The Hotline with the headline: "Consultant Scorecard: Who Had An Especially Good Night? (Gimme A 'P'; Gimme An 'O'; Gimme An 'S')." For its work in the 2002 elections, Public Opinion Strategies won the "Pollster of the Year" Campaign Excellence Award from the American Association of Political Consultants.
Mr. Bolger has polled for successful Republican legislative candidates in Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington State.
Mr. Bolger's corporate polling experience includes crisis management polling for some of the top issues in recent years, as well as image and message work for major clients such as Wal-Mart, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Tyson Foods, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroads, Intuit (the makers of Quicken), and numerous other Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to co-founding Public Opinion Strategies, Mr. Bolger was the Director of Survey Research & Analysis for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the political arm of the House Republican Caucus.
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 CLINT BRASS is an Analyst in American National Government at the Congressional Research Service, specializing in executive branch management issues and congressional oversight of executive branch management.
He is a contributing author in the
Legislative Drafter's Deskbook. Before coming to CRS, he worked at the Office of Management and Budget, the Commissioner's Office of the Internal Revenue Service, and for the governor and treasurer of the state of Illinois.
He has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a master of public policy from the Ford School at the University of Michigan, and an AB from Cornell University.
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JONATHAN BRODER is is the editor for foreign policy and defense with Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
He joined CQ in 2002 and reported from Iraq on the U.S. occupation.
He has worked for two decades as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, South Asia, and the Far East for the Associated Press, NBC News, and the Chicago Tribune. Based in Jerusalem and Beirut, he covered the 1973 Middle East war, the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the 1975 Lebanese civil war and its aftermath, the 1979 Iranian revolution, the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, the 1981 imposition of martial law in Poland, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and the Palestinian intifada in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. From his base in Beijing, Mr.
Broder covered China's economic revolution, political turmoil in the Philippines, the downing of South Korean Airline Flight 007, the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, and Afghanistan under Soviet occupation. Returning to the United States in 1990, Broder worked in Washington as a reporter, editor and lecturer, covering foreign affairs, defense and national security for the San Francisco Examiner, National Public Radio, Salon and MSNBC.com.
Mr. Broder has won a number of awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Peter Lisagor award for his coverage of Afghanistan.
Conversant in Arabic, Hebrew, and German, Broder's writing also has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The World Policy Journal and the Smithsonian magazine. He is a frequent commentator on foreign affairs for the BBC and National Public Radio and a regular participant at the Asilah Forum in Morocco, and the World Affairs Conference in Boulder, CO.
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FRANK BURK
was an
Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center
from 2002-2005. He served for 21 years on the staff of the Office
of Legislative Counsel of the Senate, specializing in the drafting of banking, housing, and securities legislation. In 1991 he became the
Legislative Counsel of the United States Senate, a position
that he held until 1998 when he resigned to pursue other interests.
He received a BA from Dartmouth College and a JD from the George
Washington University School of Law.
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ANTHONY CAPACCIO is a defense
expert on Capitol Hill and is currently a Pentagon correspondent for
Bloomberg News. Previously, he was editor of Defense Week, and was a
staff associate with national columnist Jack Anderson, covering a
variety of beats. Mr. Capaccio speaks to many audiences about the
military and media. He co-authored the July-August 1995 cover story
of the American Journalism Review on "How the Media Mishandled the
Enola Gay Controversy," and was listed in the April 1997 edition of
the National Journal as one of the most influential reporters in
Washington. Mr. Capaccio received a BA from De Paul University
and a MA in journalism from Marquette University.
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 JAMES C. CAPRETTA
is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Director
of Health Policy Consulting with Civic Enterprises, LLC.
He researches, writes,
and speaks on a wide range of public policy and economic issues,
including U.S. fiscal policy, Social Security reform, health
care financing and insurance coverage, Medicare and Medicaid
reform, and global population aging. His articles have appeared
in The Weekly Standard, National Review Online, Tax Notes
magazine, and The New Atlantis.
Mr. Capretta has more than fifteen years
of experience serving in senior positions in Congress and the
executive branch, most recently as an Associate Director at the
White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 2001 to
2004. At OMB, Mr. Capretta was the lead budget official for
advancing the President’s health care, Social Security, welfare,
education, and labor policy agenda. Prior to joining the White
House, Mr. Capretta served for nearly a decade as a Senior
Policy Analyst on the Republican Staff for the U.S. Senate
Budget Committee under Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), handling
health care and Social Security issues, and as a Professional
Staff Member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.
An Adjunct Fellow with the Global Aging
Initiative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
and with Hudson Institute, Mr. Capretta served as a Visiting
Lecturer at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke
University in 2006 and was a Visiting Fellow in Economic Studies
at the Brookings Institution in 2005-2006.
He began his career as a budget examiner
at OMB from 1987 to 1990 after graduating with an MA in Public
Policy Studies from Duke University. He graduated from the
University of Notre Dame in 1985 with a BA in Government.
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 MARY AGNES CAREY has covered health care issues since joining CQ in 1997 and is currently associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, a daily report on health care policy. She has also served as Capitol Hill Bureau Chief for CQ.
Before joining CQ, Ms. Carey covered budget, economics, appropriations and health care for Dow Jones Newswires. She spent eight years covering business, politics, labor and defense issues for newspapers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania and she has won awards for investigative, environmental and spot news reporting.
Ms. Carey has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City and an English literature degree from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
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MARY CASSELL is a senior program examiner in the Education Branch of the Office of Management and Budget and a member of OMB's Performance Evaluation Team (PET). As a program examiner, she covers elementary and secondary education issues and federal programs that support the President's No Child Left Behind initiative, including those that help disadvantaged students, improve reading, and fund after-school efforts. As a member of the PET, Ms. Cassell helped design and implement the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), a tool that is used to rate and improve the performance of federal programs.
Before joining OMB in 1995, Ms. Cassell worked as a legislative aide for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce where she worked on the 1994 revisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that helped establish accountability and school improvement systems for public schools.
Ms. Cassell has a Master of Public Policy degree from Johns Hopkins University and a BA from Cornell University.
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 JIM CHAPMAN is partner with
the Washington, DC law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP,
representing clients on public policy matters before Congress and
the executive branch, and providing strategic advice on a broad
range of federal issues. His expertise is in appropriations and
budget matters, taxation, energy, environment, trade, communications
and high technology.
Mr. Chapman is a former six-term
member of Congress, elected to represent the first district of Texas
in 1985, and retiring in 1996. While in Congress, Mr. Chapman served
on the House Appropriations Committee, the Public Works Committee,
the Small Business Committee, and the Science, Space and Technology
Committee. He was also involved in leadership positions serving on
the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and on the House
Leadership Committee that makes all committee assignments for
members of the Democratic Caucus and sets the legislative agenda for
the caucus. He also served as chairman of the Texas delegation and
was a Democratic Whip.
Mr. Chapman holds a BBA from
University of Texas and a JD from Southern Methodist University
School of Law.
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 JOHN CHWAT is president of the government relations firm of Chwat & Company, whohch represents corporations, trade and professional associations, industry coalitions, and foreign clients.
Mr. Chwat served both Democrats and Republicans as a chief of staff to two congressmen, the late Rep. John Breckinridge (D-KY) and former Rep. Bill Boner (D-TN); legislative aid to the late Rep. Seymour Halpern (R-NY); and staff member to the Senate Labor Committee under the late Sen. Jacob Javits (R-NY).
Mr. Chwat also served as a national defense and foreign policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. In this capacity, he worked on congressional projects with the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of State. He also served in the congressional relations office of USDA and was a senior specialist in congressional relations for the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT).
He teaches at The American University, as well as at George Mason University, Trinity College, and Northern Virginia Community College.
Mr. Chwat received an MA in American Government from Georgetown University and a JD from American University's Washington College of Law.
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 ANN COMPTON
is now covering her sixth president for ABCNEWS. In 1974, she was the first woman, and one of the youngest correspondents, to be named full-time White House correspondent by a network news organization. On that assignment, she has covered Presidents Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr, Reagan, Carter and Ford. From February 1987 to January 1989, she was ABCNEWS chief House of Representatives correspondent.
Ms. Compton has been the chairperson of the Radio Television Correspondents Association, the governing board for 2500 broadcasters covering Washington, DC. She was on the team that received an Emmy and a Peabody award for ABC News' September 11th reporting, when she was the only broadcast reporter allowed to remain on Air Force One when President Bush was unable to return to Washington.
Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2005, Ms. Compton will become president of the White House Correspondents Association in 2007.
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 CHARLES E. COOK, JR. is Editor and Publisher of The Cook Political Report, and political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for
National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM. He also writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a political analyst for NBC News.
Widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading authorities on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie has appeared on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs, as well as on "Good Morning America," the "Today Show," "Nightline," "Meet the Press with Tim Russert," and "This Week…." He has also appeared many times on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, CNN and National Public Radio.
Before joining the National Journal Group in June of 1998, Charlie wrote for 12 years a twice-weekly column in
Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Charlie also served as an election night analyst for CBS in 1990 and 1992, and for NBC in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
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 RHODES COOK is the publisher of The Rhodes Cook
Letter. Until 1998, Mr. Cook was a senior political writer with
Congressional Quarterly where he was intimately involved in CQ's presidential and
congressional campaign coverage. He joined CQ in 1974 and was a major contributor to CQ's
first edition of the Guide to U.S. Elections, the third edition of
Dollar
Politics, and was the moving force behind the creation of CQ's presidential nominating
guidebook, Race for the Presidency. Since 1996, he has been
the author of America Votes, a biennial compilation of
electoral data begun more than half century ago by Richard
Scammon. Mr. Cook received his bachelor's and master's degrees from
Pennsylvania State University.
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MICHAEL CORNFIELD is Vice President for Research and Media Strategy at 720 Strategies, a Washington, DC-based public persuasion firm specializing in integrated communications.
Mr. Cornfield is the author of two books about the Internet and American politics: Politics Moves Online: Campaigning and the Internet
and The Civic Web: Online Politics and Democratic Values,
co-edited with David M. Anderson.
He is an Adjunct Professor at The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) of The George Washington University, where he has taught the core course on strategy and message development since 1994. While at the GSPM full time, he helped found its Semester in Washington Program for undergraduates, and its Institute for Politics, Democracy, & the Internet.
From 1999 until 2007, Cornfield wrote a monthly column for
Campaigns & Elections magazine. He has served as a Senior
Research Consultant to the Pew Internet & American Life Project,
where he pioneered the study of political online advertising,
blogs, and subscriber email, collaborated in survey research and
analysis of political media use by citizens, and commented on
related new developments in online campaigning.
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BLAIR CROWNOVER is a
consultant to the U.S. Senate Office of Legislative Counsel where he
frequently trains new counsel. From 1971 to 2001, Mr. Crownover was an adjunct
professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching the law
school's course on legislative drafting. He also served as the
course director for the Legislative Drafting Seminar for the
International Law Institute.
Mr. Crownover served as senior counsel in the United States Senate
Office of Legislative Counsel from 1962 until his retirement. He
worked primarily on legislation within the jurisdiction of the Labor
and Human Resources Committee, including education, labor, and arts
and humanities. Mr. Crownover also worked on civil rights and
appropriations legislation. Before joining the Legislative Counsel's
Office, he served in the United States Army in the Judge Advocate
General's Corps.
Mr. Crownover earned his LLB at the
University of Michigan.
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 CHUCK CUSHMAN
is associate professor and director of the Master of Arts in
Legislative Affairs program in the Graduate School of Political
Management at The George Washington University. His work focuses
on defense and foreign policy, particularly force structure, and
Congress’s role in making defense policy. Dr. Cushman is a 1986
graduate of West Point and served nine years in the Army as an
armor officer, commanding troops in Germany and at Fort Knox,
KY, and completing his service as an instructor at West Point.
Prior to his current position at GWU, Dr. Cushman was a
consultant to the Defense Department, and to the Space
Commission headed by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
He has also been a lobbyist working to advance peace in the
Middle East, and defense advisor to Rep. David Price (D-NC) in
the 105th Congress.
Dr. Cushman earned his PhD from the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill.
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STEPHEN DAGGETT is a specialist in national defense at the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. He has been with CRS since 1989, and his research focuses on the U.S. military budget and defense policy issues. From 1986 until 1989, he was a senior analyst for a private organization, the Committee for National Security, where he specialized in U.S. defense policy, the U.S. military budget, and strategic arms control policy. Prior to that, Mr. Daggett was a senior analyst for the Center for Defense Information. He has also served as a consultant to the Council on Economic Priorities in New York for a project analyzing the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Mr. Daggett has a BA in political science from University of Massachusetts, and an MA in political science from the University of Michigan.
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CHRISTOPHER M. DAVIS is an analyst in the Government and Finance Division at the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service (CRS). His work at CRS focuses on parliamentary procedure, and the history and operations of the U.S. Congress.
Prior to working for CRS, Mr. Davis served for thirteen years as a political and policy advisor to Members of the House and Senate, including a full committee chair and a member of the House Leadership.
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 EDWARD (SANDY) DAVIS
is Special Assistant to the Director for Congressional Relations
and Budget Process at the Congressional Budget Office.
Previously was a
senior analyst with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Mr. Davis
joined CBO in January 1996 after several years as a specialist with
the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. His
area of expertise is the Federal budget process, focusing in
particular on Congressional budget procedures and practices. Mr.
Davis has prepared CBO testimony for Congressional hearings on
various proposals to reform the Federal budget process. He authored
CBO studies on emergency spending under the Budget Enforcement Act
and the Line Item Veto Act.
Mr. Davis received a BA in political
science from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia in 1977, and
completed two years of post-graduate study in public administration
at the University of Virginia in 1979.
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SID DAVIS has had an extensive
media career that has included serving as vice president and
Washington bureau chief of NBC News, bureau chief and White House
correspondent for Westinghouse Broadcasting Company and as director
of external affairs and program director of the Voice of America.
Mr. Davis is a former guest scholar
at the Brookings Institution (1994-1996) where he studied the latest
developments in the communication business and lectured on the
growth of the media and its impact on public policy.
From 1997 to 1987, Mr. Davis served
as a senior Washington correspondent and as vice president and
bureau chief of the NBC News Washington Bureau, supervising a staff
of 200 correspondents, producers, and technicians in television and
radio coverage of the nation's capitol. Prior to joining NBC News,
Mr. Davis was Chief of the Washington News Bureau of Group W,
Westinghouse Broadcasting Company. From 1960 to 1968 he served as
Group W's White House correspondent during the administrations of
John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Mr. Davis began his career as news
director and anchorman at WKBN TV in Youngstown, Ohio. He is a
graduate of Ohio University at Athens with a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Journalism.
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 CHRISTOPHER J. DEERING is professor of political science at The George Washington University where, from 1990 to 1994, he was associate dean of arts and sciences. Professor Deering is co-author of "Committees in Congress" (1984, 1990, 1997), editor of "Congressional Politics" (1989), and has written a number of articles and chapters on congressional leadership, committees, and careers and on Congress's role in foreign and national security policymaking. From 1990 to 1998 he served as director of academic planning and development for the American Political Science Association's Congressional Fellowship Program and on the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowships Advisory Board. He has served on the editorial boards for Legislative Studies Quarterly and Congress & the Presidency. As an APSA congressional fellow (1984-85) he served as a legislative aide to Senator George J. Mitchell (D-ME). He also served as a Brookings Institution research fellow in governmental studies (1977-78).
Professor Deering earned his BA in political science at the University of Southern California and his MA and PhD in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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JOE DELLA VEDOVA is a Captain in the United States Air Force, responsible for the Air Force Headquarters media training program at the Pentagon. The training helps senior Air Force and Department of Defense officials to respond naturally to the media while delivering key messages. He provided media training for General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 24-hours before the U.S. military began the military campaign against the war on terrorism. He has trained the Honorable Torie Clarke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, as well as a host of other high-ranking Department of Defense and Air Force officials.
Prior to working in the Pentagon, Captain Della Vedova was the Chief of Public Affairs at Howard Air Force Base in Panama. He was there during the Air Force's last year in the Canal Zone prior to turning over the military base to the Government of Panama. While in Panama he deployed to provide relief support to the people affected by Hurricane Mitch and earned a Humanitarian Medal for helping to deliver food and medical supplies. Captain Della Vedova was also the Deputy Chief of Public Affairs at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. He graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in English.
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JOHN M. DONNELLY is the Defense and Foreign Policy Reporter for Congressional Quarterly. From 1995 to 2004, he was a reporter and editor at Defense Week.
Previously, Mr. Donnelly was a reporter for
Food and Drink
Daily. Mr. Donnelly has also worked extensively in
the restaurant and catering businesses, and managed four Washington,
DC establishments while writing book summaries for Wilson Quarterly,
other freelance pieces.
Mr. Donnelly has won numerous
reporting awards from the National Press Club and the Newsletter
Publishers Association. He earned a BA from the College of William
and Mary.
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TOBIAS A. DORSEY is an
attorney in the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the U.S. House
of Representatives. Within that office, he works primarily on issues
relating to national defense, homeland security, and civil and
criminal justice. He is the author of the
Legislative Drafter's Deskbook. Mr. Dorsey serves on the governing council of
the Capitol Hill Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Before joining the Office of the Legislative Counsel in 1998, Mr. Dorsey served in the Office
of General Counsel of the Secretary of Defense and was a trial and
appellate lawyer in Maine and in California. He has brought appeals
to the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of
Maine, and the Supreme Court of California. During his years in
private practice, he directed
the in-house research and writing programs of two firms. Before
becoming a lawyer, he was a reporter and editor for several
newspapers.
Mr. Dorsey earned his BA from Cornell University and his JD from
UCLA School of Law.
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 DERRICK DORTCH is President of The Diversa Group, a consulting company specializing in career, entrepreneurship, leadership and organizational consulting, development & training. There he leads the Career Success Group, Targeted-Resumes, The Federal Resume & KSA Center, Career Success Center and EntrepreneurEdge units in providing career counseling, targeted resume development, interview preparation, job search assistance, government job search assistance, military transition, entrepreneurship, and job posting services to clients in need of career assistance, organizations in need of career services for their constituents and employers looking for talent.
Mr. Dortch is a career expert for The Washington Post. There he hosts a monthly "Live Online" show and contributes articles on the Job Search, Government Job Search, Getting a Security Clearance, Military Transition, Internships, and Career, Work and Life issues. He also writes articles for the Career Success Center, providing advice to help people succeed in their career, work and life. Because of his expertise he is known as the "Career Success Counselor" and the "Federal Career Counselor".
In addition, Derrick is a Flotilla Staff Officer and career
counselor with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Previously at Georgetown University's MBNA Career Education Center, he served as a career counselor, an employment advisor and was responsible for the center's educational technology & marketing.
He also served in the United States Marine Corps in various capacities from combat operations in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm to career counseling, training and administration. Derrick holds a Master's of Education in Counseling and Student Development from Tuskegee University.
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