News

The Export Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today convened the first meeting of its 2001 Advisory Committee. The Congressionally-mandated Advisory Committee helps Ex-Im Bank formulate policies and programs by providing input from various sectors of the economy. Eight of last year's members remain on the committee this year, six new members have joined, and a fifteenth has yet to be selected. Hector E. Retta, senior vice president of Bank One, Dallas, TX, serves as chairman.

Now in its 18th year, The Advisory Committee meets four times yearly (the other three meetings this year are June 19, September 20 and December 4) to examine Ex-Im Bank's programs and make recommendations for enhancing service and value. This year the committee will consider possible changes in Ex-Im Bank's philosophy, purpose, products and processes that may be called for in order to address transformations in the global marketplace.

The members of the 2001 Committee and the sectors they represent are as follows:

CHAIR - HECTOR E. RETTA
Senior Vice President
Bank One
Dallas, TX
Representing Finance

JEFFREY B. ADAMS
Director of Operations
Lamb-Grays Harbor Company
Hoquiam, WA
Representing Production/Small Business

PETER DERRICK
Assistant Treasurer
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Murray Hill, NJ
Representing Production

DEAN R. DORT, II
Vice President, International
Deere and Company
Washington, D.C.
Representing Agriculture

OWEN E. HERRNSTADT
Director, International Affairs
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Upper Marlboro, MD
Representing Labor

DAVID ICKERT
Vice President, Finance
Air Tractor
Olney, TX
Representing Production/Small Business

PETER O. LEHMAN, ESQ.
Director, Planning and Business Development
South Carolina State Ports Authority
Charleston, SC
Representing Commerce/State Government

REBECCA A. McDONALD
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Enron Global Assets.
Houston, TX
Representing Production

JAMES D. PRICE
Senior Managing Director
Price & Marshall, Inc.
New York, NY
Representing Finance

JOHN J. SALINGER
President
AIG Global Trade & Political Risk Insurance Company
Houston, TX
Representing Services/Finance

IAN M. WATSON McLAUGHLIN
President
Watson Machinery, International
Paterson, NJ
Representing Production/Small Business

KENNETH A. OYE
Director
Center for International Studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
Representing Academia

DAVID A. SMITH
Director of Public Policy
AFL-CIO
Washington, D.C.
Representing Labor

TERRENCE D. STRAUB
Vice President, Governmental Affairs
USX Corporation
Washington, DC
Representing Production

Retta and seven other committee members (Adams, Herrnstadt, McLaughlin, Oye, Price, Salinger and Smith) are serving repeat terms on the committee. The rest are new members.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the export of U.S. goods and services to emerging markets throughout the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. During fiscal year 2000, Ex-Im Bank supported $15.5 billion in U.S. exports.