[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19514]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SERVICE OF BRETT NILSSON

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to Mr. Brett Nilsson 
as he nears the completion of his service as the chairman of the 
Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, IIABA.
  If I may, let me just start by saying I am proud to count Brett as 
both a constituent and a friend. Indeed, it goes without saying that 
for close to 20 years Brett has been a very busy man and is someone who 
has been dedicated to both our Nation and to Utah through the service 
he has provided.
  On the national level, Brett has served on IIABA's Communications and 
Finance Committees, the later of which, I might add, he chaired from 
1999 to 2003. After his chairmanship of the association's Finance 
Committee, Brett was then elected to IIABA's Executive Committee in 
2003 and then nominated as the association's chairman last September in 
2008. In Utah, Brett spent a year serving as president of the 
Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992 to 1993 and as the 
national board director from Utah for 9 years. All of this, of course, 
is in addition to his own personal career where he is the senior vice 
president for the Buckner Company in Ogden, UT.
  Founded in 1896, IIABA is the Nation's oldest association of 
independent insurance agents and brokers. At last count the association 
represents an astounding network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers, 
and their employees. Throughout his tenure as chairman of the 
association, Brett has been the lead on a number of issues including 
health insurance reform and insurance regulatory reform. Additionally, 
Brett has worked assiduously to build the Trusted Choice brand and 
advance the association's InVEST Program, which is a school-to-work 
insurance program that partners with community college and high school 
educators to offer a practical and innovative program of study for 
students.
  Above all, and perhaps most-importantly, Brett has been committed to 
his family, his business, and our community in Utah. He was a vice 
president of the Ogden Jaycees, he participated on several chamber of 
commerce committees, and he is a past president of the Ogden Golf and 
Country Club. He has served on a number of different insurance company 
agent advisory councils. He was awarded Utah's Agent of the Year, and 
Young Agent of the Year and, as if those recognitions were not enough, 
in 2001 he also received an IIABA Presidential Citation. All of this, 
however, has only served as icing on the cake when, in 2003, Brett 
received our State association's highest individual honor, the Burgener 
Award--a unique distinction awarded only five other times in the 
history of the association in Utah.
  Today, Mr. President, I join with many Utahns and people from across 
the Nation in thanking Brett for his work with IIABA over the years and 
for his dedication to his professional career, our community, and our 
State. His efforts are greatly appreciated and have not gone 
unrecognized. For that, I wish him, his beautiful wife Nancy, and their 
four children and eight grandchildren the very best in their future 
endeavors, adventures, and service to others. I am certain they are 
looking forward to having a little more free time with grandpa, and I 
know we are all looking forward to next chapter of Brett's career.

                          ____________________