Secretary Tom Ridge Announces Appointment of Three New Representatives of the Homeland Security Advisory Council's State and Local Officials Senior Advisory Committee
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 2, 2003
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Stephens, President of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Karen Miller, President of the National Association of Counties (NACo) and James Garner, President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, to serve as the newest Organizational Representatives on the State and Local Officials Senior Advisory Committee.
Secretary Ridge established this committee to provide the Homeland Security Advisory Council with advice on increasing America's security from experts representing state and local governments.
Martin Stephens was elected Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives in November 1998, was re-elected in November 2000 and again in 2002, becoming the only Speaker in state history to have been elected for a third term. He comes to this important position after having served in the Utah Legislature since 1988. He assumed the presidency of NCSL in July 2003.
Commissioner Karen Miller of Missouri is currently serving her eleventh year as a Commissioner on the Boone County Commission. Commissioner Miller has focused much of her efforts on the county's water infrastructure, roadways, and in connecting Boone County to the World Wide Web. She became president of NACo in July 2003 after holding several key positions in the organization, including Chair of the Highway/Highway Safety Sub-Committee.
Mayor James Garner of New York is the four-term Mayor of Hempstead. Mayor Garner has been instrumental in strengthening the Hempstead community on both social and economic fronts. He has also been an active member of numerous organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Town of Hempstead Minority Advisory Council, and the local American Legion. Mayor Garner has served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors since June 2003.
"I look forward to working with Marty Stephens, Karen Miller and James Garner. Through their leadership of some of the nation's key state and local government organizations, these public servants have won the respect of their peers and will bring valuable insights to our work to build a truly national homeland security effort," said Secretary Ridge.
