News Release
FOR RELEASE - March 10, 2014
Contact: Jean Godwin, jgodwin@aapa-ports.org
703-684-5700

American Association of Port Authorities
Phone: (202) 792-4033
www.aapa-ports.org

Five Government Luminaries Added To AAPA’s 2014 Spring Conference Agenda

Cong. Bill Shuster, Sen. Barbara Boxer to jointly receive Port Person of Year Award as part of AAPA’s March 24-25 program in D.C.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation Victor Mendez; Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt; and M. Gen. John W. Peabody, deputy commanding general for Civil and Emergency Operations at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have just been added to help round-out an already illustrious array of speakers at the American Association of Port Authorities’ (AAPA) 2014 Spring Conference in Washington, D.C., March 24-25.

Sen. Boxer, now in her fourth term as the junior senator from California, is a national leader on environmental protection and the first woman to chair the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works. She became a U.S. senator in January 1993 after 10 years of service in the House of Representatives and six years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors.  She also chairs the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

Rep. Shuster, representing the 9th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, has served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since he was elected to Congress in 2001 and was named its chairman in January 2013.  He previously served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

Victor Mendez, recently named acting deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation, is the DOT’s chief operating officer, responsible for the agency’s day-to-day operations and its more than 55,000 employees.  He also serves as administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Before joining DOT, Dep. Sec. Mendez served as director of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Lisa Raitt, appointed Canada’s Minister of Transport in July 2013, was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008 and re-elected in 2011. Soon after her election, she was appointed Minister of Natural Resources (in October 2008) and later, appointed Minister of Labour (in January 2010). Prior to serving in the House of Commons, Ms. Raitt was the president and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority (TPA).

M. Gen. Peabody, a career combat engineer, was named the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ deputy commanding general for Civil and Emergency Operations on Oct. 18, 2013. In this role, he is responsible for a $10 billion annual program, with oversight of the Corps’ civil works activities conducted by over 23,000 military and civilian professionals operating in eight engineer divisions and 38 districts nation-wide. 

As part of AAPA’s Spring Conference program at The Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel, Dep. Sec. Mendez and Transport Minister Riatt will provide keynote addresses on transportation policy from both the U.S. and Canadian perspective, respectively, while M. Gen. Peabody will focus on the latest developments in the Corps’ water resource programs, including deep-draft harbor and navigation channel maintenance and improvements.

On the second day of the conference, Sen. Boxer (D) and Rep. Shuster (R) and will be jointly honored as the association’s 2014 Port Persons of the Year for their “extraordinary leadership in bringing together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to address the needs of our ports nationwide,” according to Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO.

Other program speakers for this year’s event include (in alphabetical order):

• Cecilia Anastos, founder and chief intel analyst for Meta Enterprises, LLC (Fredericksburg, VA);
• Ed Goeas, president and CEO for The Tarrance Group (Alexandria, VA);
• Capt. John M. Holmes, a private maritime consultant (Palos Verdes Estates, CA);
• Scott M. Kelly, vice president of global ocean services for Expeditors (Seattle, WA);
• Norma Krayem, a partner with Patton Boggs L.L.P (Washington, DC);
• Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners (Washington, DC);
• Michael Murray, managing partner with MAD Security (Las Vegas, NV);
• Greg Roche, vice president of national accounts and infrastructure for Clean Energy (Seal Beach, CA);
• Clay Sandidge, president for Muni-Fed Energy (Long Beach, CA).

AAPA anticipates more than 180 port and related industry leaders and guests will take part in the two-day conference.

For more information about AAPA’s 2014 Spring Conference program and agenda, go to /2014spring.

WHO:      American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)

WHAT:    A host of experts and luminaries addressing transportation, infrastructure, security, environmental, energy and U.S. election issues at AAPA’s 2014 Spring Conference event.

WHEN:    Business programs open to the media run 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 24; and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25.  Committee and related meetings before and after these times that are reserved for AAPA members.

WHERE:  The Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel, 999 9th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

MEDIA:   Credentialed journalists interested in covering AAPA’s Spring Conference business agenda for media purposes are asked to contact Aaron Ellis, aellis@aapa-ports.org, to obtain a media pass. 

Port Name: American Association of Port Authorities