[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16315]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               COMMENDING THE SERVICE OF KAYLA J. GILLAN

 Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I take this opportunity to bring 
to the Senate's attention the exemplary career and public service of 
Kayla J. Gillan.
  Ms. Gillan has served as General Counsel for the California Public 
Employees' Retirement System, CalPERS, since 1996, and also worked as 
Staff Counsel from 1986 to 1990 and as Deputy General Counsel from 1990 
to 1996. She led a team of attorneys and other professionals who have 
worked to support the retirement, health and investment programs 
benefitting CalPERS members and employers. Ms. Gillan was instrumental 
in drafting corporate governance principles for the CalPERS Board of 
Administration, making CalPERS the first fund in the Nation to 
articulate roles for its Board, leaders, committees and staff.
  Ms. Gillan also facilitated the CalPERS Board's self-evaluation 
process and helped the Board implement path-breaking corporate 
governance policies. She was the principal drafter of all CalPERS 
corporate governance policy statements since 1992, and met with more 
than 150 companies to address poor financial performance and corporate 
governance.
  Under Ms. Gillan's leadership, the CalPERS legal team successfully 
fought and won litigation that resulted in a return of over $2 billion 
to the fund, and the establishment of the principle that CalPERS 
members have a vested right to a fiscally secure retirement system. She 
drafted Board policies on securities litigation, including the CalPERS 
process for evaluating litigation that served as a roadmap for the 
CalPERS legal team to win the largest securities fraud class action 
recovery in history.
  Ms. Gillan has been the recipient of numerous industry honors, such 
as being named one of the National Law Journal's top 50 women lawyers 
in the United States in 1998, and was included in that publication's 
1995 list of the top ``40 under age 40 attorneys'' in the Nation.
  Ms. Gillan's expertise, dedication, and leadership should be 
commended. Her work has resulted in the advancement of corporate 
governance principles in corporations throughout the United States. 
Establishing higher standards and clear accountability for corporate 
governance is vital to the integrity of the American economy, 
particularly in light of the burgeoning corporate scandals in our 
markets.
  I wish Ms. Gillan all the best in her future endeavors.

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