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 The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.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
                            (Houston, Texas)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                        May 7, 1999

          PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES MORTON BAHR, ROGER KNUTSEN, 
       LAWRENCE PERLMAN, SUSAN M. GREEN, AND PATRICIA W. MCNEIL 
       MEMBERS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WORKFORCE COMMISSION

The President today announced his intent to appoint Morton Bahr, Roger Knutsen, Lawrence Perlman, Susan M. Green, and Patricia W. McNeil as Members of the Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission.

Mr. Morton Bahr, of Washington, DC, has served as President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO since 1985. He serves as a Vice President of the AFL-CIO and heads its Department for Professional Employees. Prior to accepting his current position at CWA, he served for sixteen years as Vice President and head of District 1, the union's largest district, covering New York, New Jersey and New England. He joined the union's staff in 1957 as an organizer and worked his way up through a series of positions. He is as Co-Chairman of the Collective Bargaining Forum, a group of business and union leaders committed to improving the collective bargaining process. He also serves as Chair of the Commission for a Nation of Lifelong Learners and as a member of the Federal Communications Commission's Network Reliability Council. He previously served on the Labor Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations, and the U.S. Advisory Council on National Information Infrastructure. Mr. Bahr received a B.S. degree from Empire State College.

Mr. Roger Knutsen, of Federal Way, Washington, has served as the President of the National Council for Higher Education of the National Education Association since 1995. He has been an instructor at Green River Community College since 1972, teaching courses on microcomputers, desktop publishing, spreadsheets, word processing and chemistry. He previously taught chemistry and physics at Glendale College, Citrus College, and Pasadena City College in California. From 1989-1995, he served as the Vice President of National Council for Higher Education and was the newsletter editor and membership recruitment chair. From 1984-1988, he served as President of the Association for Higher Education of the Washington Education Association. Mr. Knutsen received a B.A. degree in chemistry from Earlham College and a M.S. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Southern California.

Mr. Lawrence Perlman, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has served since 1992 as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ceridian Corporation, a leading information services company that serves the human resources, transportation and media information markets. From 1990 to 1992 he served as President and CEO of Control Data Corporation, the predecessor to Ceridian. He also is Chairman of Seagate Technology, a global company serving the data storage and information management markets. He has been a practicing lawyer and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Law. From 1975 to 1978, he was Executive Vice President of Medtronic, Inc. for U.S. Pacemaker Operations. In addition to Ceridian and Seagate, he also serves on the boards of the Carlson Companies, Inc., and the Valspar Corporation. He serves on the boards of Carleton College, Minnesota Public Radio, the Walker Art Center, and the Families and Work Institute. Mr. Perlam received a B.A. degree from Carleton College and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Ms. Susan M. Green, of Garrett Park, Maryland, currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Labor. From 1996-1999, she served as Chief Labor Counsel for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. She was a trial attorney in the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of Labor from 1992-1996. She was a staff attorney for the Migrant Legal Action Program from 1991-1992 and an associate with the law firm of Connerton & Ray from 1985-1990. Ms. Green received a B.A. degree from Harvard University and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School.

Ms. Patricia W. McNeil, of Alexandria, Virginia, has served as the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education at the Department of Education since 1996. As Assistant Secretary, she is responsible for the Department's School-to-Work, New American High Schools, Tribal Colleges, Community Colleges, and Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Initiatives. Prior to this she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary beginning in 1993. Before joining the Department of Education, she was president of her own firm, Workforce Policy Associates. She has also served as Director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy at the Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor, and as Executive Director of the National Commission for Employment Policy. She is a member of the National Research Council, the National Skills Standards Board, and the National Institute for Literacy Board. Ms. McNeil received a B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts.

The newly created Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission will conduct a thorough study of all matters relating to the information technology workforce in the United States. The Commission shall examine the skills necessary to enter the information technology workforce, ways to expand the number of skilled workers, and the relative efficacy of training programs in the United States and foreign countries. The Commission will issue a report to the President and Congress detailing its findings and recommendations for appropriate legislation and administrative actions which it deems appropriate.

30-30-30