November 29, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD

Senate Confirms Francis J. Duggan and Current NMB Members for New Terms

The National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that President Clinton's nominations of Ernest W. DuBester, Francis J. Duggan and Magdalena G. Jacobsen were confirmed by the United State Senate during the current Congress. Mr. Francis J. Duggan fills the unexpired term of Kenneth B. Hipp who resigned from the NMB last year. The Senate also confirmed successive terms for Ernest W. DuBester (Bio) and Magdalena G. Jacobsen (Bio). DuBester was first appointed to the Board in 1993 and has served two terms as chairman. Jacobsen, the Board's current chairwoman, was also first appointed 1993 and she is now completing her second term as the board's chair, which rotates among the three members.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that President Clinton's nominations of Ernest W. DuBester, Francis J. Duggan and Magdalena G. Jacobsen were confirmed by the United State Senate during the current Congress. Mr. Francis J. Duggan fills the unexpired term of Kenneth B. Hipp who resigned from the NMB last year. The Senate also confirmed successive terms for Ernest W. DuBester (Bio) and Magdalena G. Jacobsen (Bio). DuBester was first appointed to the Board in 1993 and has served two terms as chairman. Jacobsen, the Board's current chairwoman, was also first appointed 1993 and she is now completing her second term as the board's chair, which rotates among the three members.

Prior to joining the Board, Mr. Duggan was an attorney with the Washington law firm of Mullenholz, Brimsek and Belair. He has extensive experience in both the rail and airline industries. For ten years he was an assistant vice president of the Association of American Railroads, and, from 1989-90, served on the Presidents Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism. Mr. Duggan has represented the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, as a pro bono advisor and attorney. He is a member of the Transportation Section of the Federal Bar Association and an officer of the Washington Foreign Law Society.

Mr. Duggan was a Presidential appointee at the Labor Department during the Ford and Reagan Administrations, serving as Assistant Secretary in the Reagan administration. He worked in the Senate on the Labor Committee and in the office of former Senator Charles Mathias (R-MD), and in the House for Rep. William Steiger (R-WI). He was also the Director of Operations of the Legal Services Program in the Office of Economic Opportunity.

He is an alumnus of St. John's college and law school in New York, and received two graduate political science fellowships and a research grant from Harvard University. Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., he lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife Faye Padgett, a retired Capitol Hill staffer. He has three grown children.