This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release August 30, 1996

     PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOHN E. HIGGINS, JR. TO BE A MEMBER OF 
                   THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

The President announced today the appointment of John E. Higgins, Jr. as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Higgins will serve as a recess appointee.

John E. Higgins, Jr., of Chevy Chase, Maryland, has worked for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) since 1964. He currently serves as the Acting Inspector General, where he has served since 1994. Previously, he served from 1988 to 1989 as a member of the Board of the NLRB, where he was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan. He also served as Solicitor of the Board, as deputy general counsel, as deputy associate and deputy assistant general counsel, as a supervisory attorney and as a field attorney in the Memphis Regional Office. Mr. Higgins serves as the public co-chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on the Development of the Law under the National Labor Relations Act, as vice president for professional development at the Association of Labor Relations Agencies and as an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America Law School. He earned his B.A. from Boston College, his J.D. from Boston University and his M.S. from Cornell University. Mr. Higgins was raised in Melrose, Massachusetts. He is married to the former Frances Litton of Memphis,Tennessee. They have three children, David, Beth and Jack, and three grandchildren.

There is a long standing tradition of bipartisanship in appointments to the five Member NLRB. Presently, the Board has three Members, all of whom are Democrats. The recess appointment of Mr. Higgins, a Republican, continues this bipartisan tradition. It is important that the Board be able to function in an impartial manner when examining issues raised under the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRB is an independent federal agency which administers the National Labor Relations Act, the nation's principal labor law enforcer. The NLRB works to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices by employers and labor organizations. The Board also conducts secret ballot elections among employees which allows them to decide whether or not they desire to be represented by a labor organization in bargaining with employers. The NLRB serves the public interest by reducing interruptions in commerce caused by industrial strife and by providing orderly processes for protecting and implementing the respective rights of the employees, employers and unions.

-30-30-30-