Pelosi, Boehner Appoint Members to Key National Indicators Commission

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader John Boehner today announced members they appointed to serve on the Commission on Key National Indicators. The Speaker has appointed Mr. Stephen Heintz and Dr. Marta Tienda to serve on the panel, and Leader Boehner has appointed Mr. Marcus C. Peacock and Dr. Tomas J. Philipson.

The eight members of the bipartisan Commission on Key National Indicators are selected by Congressional leaders to oversee implementation of the Key National Indicator System, which will be executed by the National Academy of Sciences.

"In order to continue moving America forward and ensure our competitiveness in the world for generations to come, it is crucial to have in place an effective system to measure our country's progress," Speaker Pelosi said. "Stephen Heintz and Dr. Marta Tienda bring to the table the extensive experience and dedication needed to help guide the development of the Key National Indicator System."

"I'm pleased that such distinguished experts have agreed to serve on this important body," House Republican Leader John Boehner said.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) formally recommended the implementation of a key national indicator system in 2006. Bipartisan legislation to realize this goal was introduced in the Senate by the late Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming in 2008, and a version of this bill was included in the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in March.

APPOINTEE BIOS

Mr. Stephen Heintz

Mr. Stephen Heintz is currently President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as well as Chair of the Dēmos Board of Trustees. Heintz co-founded Dēmos, a non-partisan public policy research organization to promote an engaged and inclusive democratic process, in 2000 and has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees since 2003. Prior to founding Dēmos, he was vice president and chief operating officer of the East West Institute in Prague and previously served in Connecticut as Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development and Commissioner of the Department of Income Maintenance. Heintz holds a BA from Yale University.

Dr. Marta Tienda

Dr. Marta Tienda is currently a Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She also worked as director of the Office of Population Research at Princeton University from 1997 to 2002. Additionally, Tienda serves as a director of TIAA, and board member of the Sloan Foundation, the Jacobs Foundation of Switzerland, and the Corporation of Brown University. She chaired the Panel on Hispanics for the National Academy of Science, and serves on the Visitors Committee of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Tienda holds a BA in Spanish from Michigan State University and a MA and Ph.D., both in Sociology, from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Marcus C. Peacock

Marcus Peacock runs the Subsidyscope initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts. The project, which has been featured by such news outlets as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and The New York Times, makes detailed information on federal subsidies available to the public. Before running Subsidyscope, Marcus was the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to EPA, Marcus served as the Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. As a recognized expert in the fields of federal budgeting, government performance, and environmental policy Marcus has served on panels for the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Public Administration. Marcus received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Dr. Tomas J. Philipson

Tomas J. Philipson is The Daniel Levin Professor of Public Policy at The University of Chicago. Philipson obtained his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Uppsala University, Sweden, and received his MA and PhD in economics from The Wharton School and The University of Pennsylvania. He served as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during 2003-04 and subsequently as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2004. Philipson is affiliated with a number of other organizations outside University of Chicago, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute (where he is chairman of Project FDA), the Heartland Institute, the Milken Institute, and the RAND Corporation. He is a founding managing director of Precision Heath Economics LLC. Philipson is the recipient of numerous international and national research awards and has twice (in 2000 and 2006) been the recipient of the highest honor of his field, the Kenneth Arrow Award of the International Health Economics Association.

SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House