U.S. Chamber's Randel K. Johnson Appointed to ERISA Advisory Council

Will Advise Secretary of Labor on Pension and Health Care Issues

WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today announced that Randel K. Johnson, vice president for Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits was appointed to the ERISA Advisory Council where he will counsel the secretary of Labor on ERISA issues relating to pensions and health care.

"Randy was appointed by the secretary of Labor for such an important role because of his expertise on workforce issues, particularly related to pensions and health care," said R. Bruce Josten, the U.S. Chamber's executive vice president for Government Affairs. "He will do an excellent job representing the business community in this capacity."

The ERISA Advisory Council was established by statute and consists of 15 members appointed by the Labor Secretary. Three members are representatives of employers, of which Johnson is one. Three representatives come from employee organizations. There is one member each from the fields of insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management, and accounting. And three come from the general public.

Before joining the Chamber in 1997, Johnson was the Republican labor counsel and coordinator for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was also an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, where he was the special assistant to the Solicitor of Labor for Regulatory Affairs and the department's liaison to the Office of Management and Budget. In addition, he served as a lobbyist in the labor relations, immigration, and job training areas with the National Association of Manufacturers; as an attorney with the Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law Judges; and as a law clerk to a Baltimore city trial judge immediately following law school.

Johnson served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security Data Management Improvement Act Task Force concerning border entry and exit issues, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Immigration Task Force, and the board of directors of the National Immigration Forum. He was also a member of the 21st Century Workforce Commission and the Carnegie U.S.-Mexico Migration Study Group. Johnson testifies before Congress and often appears in the media on employment and immigration issues.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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