Foreign Relation. Janice O'Connell recently took a job as senior vice president with Gephardt Government Affairs, run by former House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo. O'Connell left Capitol Hill at the end of 2007, but spent almost 30 years working for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While there, she spent most of her time working for Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and focused extensively on Latin America. Dodd, a former Peace Corps worker in the Dominican Republic, was steeped in the issue as chairman of the panel's Western Hemisphere Affairs Subcommittee. Dodd also led opposition to aid to the Contras in Nicaragua, a signature Cold War issue. O'Connell frequently traveled to Central America, and during her later years at the committee took trips with Dodd to Iraq and Afghanistan. She started out at the committee under its former chairman, the late Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho. "I went around and interviewed with a variety of places, and there happened to be an opening for a junior staffer," O'Connell said. She eventually became a committee veteran who dispensed advice. "While there is a precedent book that the committee does keep, sometimes having lived through the issue helped focus how one should proceed," she said. In her new position, she expects to represent foreign policy-related clients. Also joining the Gephardt Group is Catherine Goode, formerly of Quinn Gillespie & Associates, and former Hartford Financial Services Group lobbyist Joel Freedman.
Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009
An item in the People item in Tuesday's CongressDailyAM mistakenly characterized Joel Freedman as a lobbyist. He oversaw the government affairs practice for the Hartford Financial Services Group, but he was not registered as a lobbyist.
Healthcare industry leaders are pressing the White House to get more involved with promoting healthcare innovation, saying the U.S. leads the world but faces growing challenges.
Read More
As Washington searches for solutions to continue our nation’s economic recovery, it’s time to cultivate new growth strategies.
Read More
Dick Gephardt offers some perspective on Tuesday's primaries on MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown."
Read More
Scientists warn that ash may not clear for weeks.
Watch Video
Kyle Mulhall and Scott Brenner have joined Gephardt Government Affairs.
Read More