[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 26144-26145]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LYNNE M. ROSS

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, before I was elected by the 
people of Connecticut to serve in the Senate, I was privileged to serve 
as their attorney general for 6 years. During my tenure as AG, I was 
assisted not only by my top rate staff but by an organization that 
proved invaluable toward my efforts to protect public health and 
safety, the National Association of Attorneys General.
  The National Association of Attorneys General, NAAG, has been 
assisting the chief legal officers of all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, and other jurisdictions since 1907. In the last 30 years, the 
scope of NAAG's operations has increased dramatically with the opening 
of its Washington, DC, office, which has been a tremendous resource to 
State attorneys general seeking to coordinate with each other and with 
the Federal Government. One person who was particularly instrumental in 
expanding the association's Washington operations is Lynne Ross, who 
retired in September after working in public service for over 30 years.
  When NAAG first opened its Washington office in 1976, Ms. Ross was 
its first and at that time only full time employee. Given this, it is 
amazing the broad array of services this office offered. Serving as 
both deputy director and legislative director, Ms. Ross coordinated 
legislative activities on behalf of attorneys general across the 
country, including securing $25 million dollars in Federal aid to help 
States develop/enhance their antitrust capacity. In addition, she 
worked together with State and environmental groups in passing the 
Federal Facilities Compliance Act, which requires Federal facilities to 
follow the same State, local, and Federal environmental regulations 
that govern private industry. This act has greatly expanded the ability 
of attorneys general to clean up the environment.
  Ms. Ross also worked as a liaison between State attorneys general and 
the White House and executive agencies such as the Environmental 
Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission, with which many AGs 
have extensive, yet sometimes frayed, relations. Ms. Ross was known for 
her ability to help AGs and their staff clear through the bureaucratic 
brush and find who they need to talk to. She undertook efforts to help 
attorneys generals better

[[Page 26145]]

perform their jobs by preparing regular NAAG meetings which fostered 
interaction between AGs and the various Federal agencies, by producing 
various NAAG publications which both informed AG offices of various 
legal developments, and also provided advice on how best to fulfill 
their roles and responsibilities as the chief public law enforcement 
officer for the State.
  The work done by Ms. Ross and NAAG proved to be so immensely valuable 
to State attorneys general that by 1997, when Ms. Ross returned to the 
NAAG after serving 4 years at EPA, its Washington office had grown to 
employ almost 50 people to accommodate for the increased demand for 
services. This speaks volumes about Ms. Ross's talents and work ethic.
  Upon returning to NAAG, Ms. Ross served again as deputy director, 
managing the day-to-day operations of the association. In 2002, she 
became executive director, in which she put her experience and wisdom 
to work developing programs and initiatives in an array of substantive 
areas including criminal law, consumer protection, cybercrime, and 
more.
  Throughout the years Lynne was at NAAG she was also instrumental in 
the creation and support of an auxiliary organization of former 
attorneys general called the Society of Attorneys General Emeritus, 
SAGE. SAGE members could always rely on Lynne's prompt and responsive 
counsel and advice.
  Mr. President, what I have provided today is just a mere sampling of 
Lynne Ross's professional accomplishments. One could easily fill up a 
large book with the things she has done and yet still not do her career 
justice. Perhaps it best to simply say: Thank you, Lynne Ross, for 
helping to make NAAG the organization it is today. All our country's 
attorneys general and the people they serve are better off because of 
you.

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