U.S.-China Commission Announces The Appointment Of Jeffrey L. Fiedler
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 04 , 2007 |
Contact: |
Kathy Michels kmichels@uscc.gov Omar Aslam oaslam@uscc.gov Web site:www.uscc.gov |
Washington, D.C. – Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew and Vice Chairman Dan Blumenthal are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jeffrey L. Fiedler, President of the Research Associates of America (RAA), a non-profit labor research organization, as a member of the Commission. Mr. Fiedler was appointed to the Commission by Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a one year term expiring December 31, 2007, to fill the remainder of the term of Commissioner George Becker who resigned December 31, 2006. Mr. Fiedler’s appointment in the congressional record is available at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r109:6:./temp/~r1093mfkxS::
Mr. Fiedler previously was elected President of the Food and Allied Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO (“FAST). This constitutional department of the AFL-CIO represented 10 unions with a membership of 3.5 million in the U.S. and Canada. He served as a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committees on International Affairs, Immigration, Organizing, and Strategic Approaches. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Consumer Federation of America, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He attended three of the American Assembly conferences on China sponsored by Columbia University, and has participated in the Council on Foreign Relations task force and study group on China. He is a Vietnam veteran, having served with the U.S. Army in Hue in 1967-68. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University. A copy of his full bio is attached.
The Commission’s twelve members are appointed by the joint Congressional leadership for two-year terms. The Commission was created by Congress in 2000 to investigate and assess the economic and security implications of the U.S.-China relationship. Its statutory charter is available at http://www.uscc.gov/about/charter.php.
The Commission released its fourth Annual Report to Congress on November 16, 2006, and will begin its 2007 hearing schedule in early February 2007. The Commission plans to hold a series of public hearings on a broad array of topics within its legislative mandate, continuing its examination of the industrial, regional, and national security implications of U.S.-China trade and investment. The full 2007 schedule of Commission hearings will be posted soon to the Commission’s Web Site www.uscc.gov.
The Commission’s four Annual Reports to Congress, transcripts of its public hearings, research papers, trade and economic related data, and translations of relevant Chinese-language materials are available on line at www.uscc.gov.
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JEFFREY L. FIEDLER
Commissioner Jeffrey L. Fiedler was appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on December 7, 2006. Mr. Fiedler is President of Research Associates of America (“RAA”), a non-profit labor research organization. Previously, he was the elected President of the Food and Allied Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO (“FAST”). This constitutional department of the AFL-CIO represented 10 unions with a membership of 3.5 million in the United States and Canada. The focus of RAA, like FAST before it, is organizing and bargaining research for workers and their unions.
He served as a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committees on International Affairs, Immigration, Organizing, and Strategic Approaches. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Consumer Federation of America, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
In 1992, Mr. Fiedler co-founded the Laogai Research Foundation (“LRF”); an organization devoted to studying the forced labor camp system in China. When the Foundation’s Executive Director, Harry Wu, was detained in China in 1995, Fiedler coordinated the campaign to win his release. He still serves as a director of the LRF.
Mr. Fiedler has testified on behalf of the AFL-CIO before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House International Affairs Committee and its various subcommittees, as well as the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee concerning China policy. He attended three of the American Assembly conferences on China sponsored by Columbia University and has participated in a Council on Foreign Relations task force and study group on China. He has been interviewed on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and CNBC on China policy, international trade issues, human rights, and child labor.
A Vietnam veteran, Mr. Fiedler served with the U.S. Army in Hue in 1967-68. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University. He is married with two adult children and resides in Virginia.