SENATOR NICKLES TO ADDRESS IIABA INSIDERS’ LUNCHEON
Event will mark the start of annual National Legislative Conference
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 29 - Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who is spearheading the fight for common-sense asbestos litigation reform in the Senate, will speak to national leaders of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) during the association’s annual Insiders’ Luncheon on Capitol Hill.
The luncheon will be held April 20, immediately prior to the start of the Big “I” 27th annual National Legislative Conference. Luncheon participants will include Big “I” Executive Committee members, Government Affairs Committee representatives, as well as agent and broker leaders from Nickles’ home state of Oklahoma.
Annually, more than 800 independent agents and brokers participate in the National Legislative Conference, and similar attendance is expected this year at the industry’s best-attended, most effective legislative meeting. This year’s event will take place April 21 through 23 at the Capitol Hilton. Additional leading political speakers will be announced as they are confirmed.
“We are very pleased to have Sen. Nickles as the speaker at our Insiders’ Luncheon,” says IIABA CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt. “The senator has led the fight to bring common sense to asbestos litigation, which is out of control, and he has also been a proven and consistent leader on health care, tax and small business issues. Our association’s leaders will be very interested in his insights on all these issues, and we are thrilled to have him at our meeting.”
Nickles last year introduced S. 413, a bill that would establish medical criteria for asbestos claims. The recent claims explosion has been driven largely by people who have little or no impairment. Nickles’ bill would ensure that only the claims of sick individuals are addressed.
Nickles, first elected to the Senate in 1980 at age 31, is serving his fourth and final term; he is retiring at the end of this Congress. In 1998, he became the first Republican ever to win a fourth term to the Senate from Oklahoma. Nickles is the first Oklahoman to serve as chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee, and he also serves on the Finance, Energy and Natural Resources, and Rules and Administration Committees. Nickles also has the distinction of having held the highest leadership position of any Oklahoma senator, having been elected in 1996 and 1998 as assistant Republican leader. He started his political career in the Oklahoma State Senate in 1978.
Highlights of the Big “I” National Legislative Conference will include an in-depth issues briefing session; the annual Big “I” congressional reception on Capitol Hill; appearances by numerous high-profile speakers discussing important insurance and national issues confronting lawmakers as well as agents and brokers in Washington, D.C.; and hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill between Big “I” agents and brokers and lawmakers.
The conference provides an excellent opportunity for agents and brokers to discuss important issues with their congressional representatives. Top issues this year include insurance regulatory modernization, tort reform, passage of a flood insurance reform bill, and changes in the tax treatment of intangible assets.
To register online and for hotel reservations go to www.independentagent.com and select the “Events and Conferences” link. You also can obtain downloadable copies of the event registration and hotel reservation forms at this section.
Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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