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AIA Announces Staff Changes In Legislative Department

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 22 - Thomas N. Tate, AIA's Vice President of Legislative Affairs, announced today that he will retire from that position and become special counsel to AIA, effective April 1, 2002. Tate served as Vice President of AIA's Legislative Affairs for 15 years and served the previous 15 years on the staff of the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Science and Technology. Joining the staff in 1973 as a technical consultant and counsel to the House Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, Tate was appointed deputy staff director of the House Subcommittee on Energy Research and Development in 1976. In 1978, Tate returned to the space subcommittee as chief counsel, and in 1981 he became special assistant to the chairman of the full committee, where he remained until joining AIA.

Tate also worked for the Space Division of Rockwell International in Downey, California, from 1962 to 1973 in various engineering and marketing capacities and was director of space operations when he departed the company in 1973. He worked on numerous programs, including the Gemini Paraglider, Apollo, Apollo/Soyuz, and Shuttle Programs.

John W. Douglass, AIA President and CEO said, "The AIA legislative team, led by Tom Tate, has done a terrific job representing our industry before congress. The creation of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry is a testament to their success. As Tom transitions to AIA Special Counsel, we should take a special moment to applaud his contributions to AIA and our industry for more than 40 years."

Jonathan Lewis Etherton, AIA's Assistant Vice President of Legislative Affairs, will replace Tate as Vice President of Legislative Affairs. He joined the association on March 1, 1999, after 14 years as a professional staff member of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services.

In the Senate, Etherton was responsible for managing public policy and budget issues before the Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology, including; acquisition policy, funding for technology base and research and development programs, industrial base policy and selected defense trade issues. Serving as the principal Republican committee staff member on Acquisition Policy and Reform since 1985, Etherton played a major role in the development and enactment of such legislation as the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994. He also managed the Senate staff portion of the House-Senate conference on the Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1996.

In addition, Patrick McCartan joins AIA as Director of Legislative Affairs. McCartan joins AIA from KPMG LLP, where he was Manager of Communications. He has experience in both the House and Senate, serving as senior national security policy aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Pete Wilson, and as Trade and Commerce Liaison for the state of California.

P.A. Rel 2002-15

03.22.02

-AIA-

Contact: Matt Grimison, AIA
(202) 371-8548
matt.grimison@aia-aerospace.org