Chamber's Vice President of National Security Reappointed to FEMA Advisory Board

WASHINGTON, D.C.—United States Chamber of Commerce Vice President of National Security & Emergency Preparedness Ann Beauchesne has been reappointed to serve as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Advisory Council. Beauchesne was appointed on June 20, 2008 by the administrator of FEMA to serve a three-year term as the Infrastructure Protection representative. The council advises the administrator on all matters pertaining to preparedness and emergency management.

"This is a great honor to one of our senior staff members and to the businesses we represent before the federal government," said the U.S. Chamber's President and CEO Tom Donohue. "Ann will continue to be a valuable asset for the FEMA Council, providing guidance and insight from her professional background and her extensive work with the business community."

The development of the National Advisory Council was set into motion by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. Members of the National Advisory Council are appointed by the administrator, representing a cross-section of emergency management personnel, law enforcement officials, and homeland security directors from state, local, and tribal governments, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations nationwide.

In addition to her recent selection to the council, Beauchesne also serves as chair of the Public-Private Partnership Subcommittee to the Council.

The council was instituted in 2007 to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters. The council holds quarterly sessions focusing specifically on the development and revision of the national preparedness goals, the national preparedness system, the National Incident Management System, and the National Response Plan.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce 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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