Premier Concludes Washington DC Visit
Premier Dr Ewart Brown has concluded the second day of his whirlwind visit to Washington DC where he and his team promoted Bermuda’s interests on Capitol Hill. In a day that began with a visit to Charles Rangel, Congressman for the 15th Congressional District of New York and concluded with a meeting with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, the Premier says that every opportunity was made to make the case for the island’s Reinsurance industry and to promote good relations between Bermuda and the United States of America.
Premier Dr Brown said, “We wanted to highlight the fact that Bermuda and its Reinsurance industry contributes in an extremely positive manner to the economy of America and to the well being of Americans. When we determined that a substantial percentage of the insurers providing coverage for the recent oil disaster were based in Bermuda and that some of the proposed legislative changes could raise US consumers’ insurance bills by as much as $12 billion annually we had to make sure that this information was presented to key players on Capitol Hill.”
The Premier continued, “Congressman Rangel is no stranger to supporting Bermuda and he reiterated that he would not support any attempt to single out our country by harmful legislation. Congressman Butterfield who we often refer to as “Bermuda’s Congressman,” graciously agreed to assist in talks with other leaders on the Hill on issues relating to Bermuda and Congressman Levin along with his General Counsel engaged in detailed discussions demonstrating keen insight into our position and our challenges with potentially harmful tax legislation. We are very pleased with the meetings we have held and consider this visit a success.”
Premier Dr Brown’s delegation to Washington DC included Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance Paula Cox, Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque and Financial Secretary Donald Scott. Today’s meetings were with Congressman Charles Rangel, Congressman G.K. Butterfield (who holds close familial ties to Bermuda and is the Representative of the 1st District of North Carolina), Senator Richard “Dick” Durbin of Illinois (The first Senator to endorse the Presidential candidacy of Barack Obama) Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Sander Levin (of the 12th Congressional District of Michigan) and Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives Jim Clyburn (of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina).
Pictured below is Premier Dr Brown with [left] and Senator Dick Durbin, and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Sander Levin. Click to enlarge:
-
—-
