News from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Matt Skinner, Public Information Officer

Phone: (405) 521-4180, FAX: (405) 522-1623,  www.occeweb.com

 

March 22, 2002

 

COMMISSION CHAIR TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NORWAY

 

Corporation Commission Chairman Denise Bode has been invited to represent the United States at the Conservative Women’s Conference in Oslo, Norway this weekend.

 

Bode says she is honored by the invitation.

 

“To be asked to represent elected women in the U.S. at this important international conservative conference is a tremendous opportunity.  I will share our experiences here in Oklahoma with domestic terrorism as well as what we are doing at the state and federal level to respond appropriately.”

 

The conference is sponsored by the International Democrat Union (IDU) and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. The IDU provides a forum in which Parties holding similar beliefs can come together and exchange views on matters of policy, in order to learn from each other and speak with one voice to promote democracy around the globe. The IDU is composed of over 80 member Parties from over 60 countries. It is the only international organization of its kind with full members from both Russia and the USA. Many of its members come from democracies that were established over the past decade.  The idea was first proposed by then-President Ronald Reagan to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  Founding members include Prime Minister Thatcher, then Vice-President George Bush Sr., German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and now-French President Jacques Chirac.

 

Chairman Bode is one of approximately 70 delegates from some 27 countries attending the conference. All are senior members of their respective governments,  most of them in elected positions.

 

Chairman Bode will be speaking on the issue of the war on terrorism on a panel with the Secretary of Defense of Norway.  She is a member of the Governor’s Security and Preparedness Executive Panel that was formed after the 9-11 attacks, and chairs the Panel’s committee on energy and infrastructure.  In addition, at the national level she serves on the special panel, Committee on Critical Infrastructure, formed by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

 

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All news advisories and releases are available for downloading on the OCC web site at www.occ.state.ok.us