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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Press Secretary

For Immediate Release November 10, 1999

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES TWO MEMBERS OF THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

The President today announced his intent to nominate Jerome F. Kever and Virgil M. Speakman, Jr. as Members of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

Mr. Jerome F. Kever, of Grays Lake, Illinois, has been serving as the Management Member of the RRB since 1992. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Kever served as a financial consultant assisting small businesses. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Kever served as Vice President and Controller of the former Santa Fe Pacific (SPF) Corporation (now merged into Burlington Northern Santa Fe). From 1984 to 1987, Mr. Kever was the Director of Audit at SFP. From 1977 to 1984, Mr. Kever served as the Director of Internal Audit for Household International, a multinational conglomerate with interests in financial service, retailing, and car leasing and manufacturing. Mr. Kever is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University.

Mr. Virgil M. Speakman, of Chicago, Illinois, has been serving as the Labor Member of the RRB since 1992. From 1987 to 1992, Mr. Speakman served as the President of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. In this position, he also served as Vice Chairman of the Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA). Mr. Speakman held various posts in the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen including Vice President, Director of Research, Grand Lodge Representative, and Local Lodge Chairman. Mr. Speakman also served with the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam.

As a multibillion dollar federal program, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent agency within the Executive Branch. Its primary function is to manage the comprehensive retirement-survivor and unemployment-sickness benefit programs for the nation's railroad workers and their families, under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts. Additionally, the RRB has administrative responsibilities under the Social Security Act for certain benefit payments and railroad workers' Medicare coverage.

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