TAX REFORM PANEL ANNOUNCES LOCATION AND WITNESS LIST FOR NINTH PUBLIC MEETING ON MAY 17TH

~Tax Panel to Consider Specific Options for Tax Reform~

May 12, 2005

Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform today announced the location and witnesses for the Panel’s ninth meeting. The meeting will be held at the Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC, on Tuesday, May 17th at 9:30 a.m.

During this meeting, witnesses will evaluate tax reform proposals and discuss issues associated with “return-free” filing.

Panel I: Economic Perspectives on Tax Reform
Testimony of Martin Feldstein
George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University and President & CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research

Panel II: Policy Perspectives on Tax Reform
Testimony of Mark A. Weinberger
Americas Vice Chairman - Tax Services, Ernst & Young LLP

Testimony of Jon Talisman
Partner, Capitol Tax Partners

Testimony of Leslie B. Samuels
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Testimony of Pamela F. Olson
Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Panel III: Issues Associated with “Return-Free” Filing
Testimony of Eric J. Toder
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute

Testimony of Joseph Bankman
Ralph M. Parsons Professor of Law and Business, Stanford University

Testimony of Grover G. Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

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Biographical Information for Witnesses Scheduled to Participate in the Ninth Meeting of The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform May 17, 2005

Mark A. Weinberger is the Americas Vice Chairman – Tax Services at Ernst & Young LLP. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy from 2001 to 2002 and as Chief of Staff and Counsel to the President's 1994 Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. A graduate of Emory University, he holds an M.B.A. and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and an LL.M in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Jon Talisman is Partner at Capitol Tax Partners, a consulting firm specializing in tax legislative and regulatory matters. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy from 1999 to 2000, Democratic Chief Tax Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, and Legislation Counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation. He holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.

Leslie B. Samuels is a Partner at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where he focuses on international and domestic taxation. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy from 1993 to 1996. He holds a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and a LL.B. from Harvard Law School. He was also a Fulbright scholar at the London School of Economics.

Pamela F. Olson is a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she focuses on tax controversy and litigation. She served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy from 2002 to 2004. She was formerly chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. She holds a B.A., J.D. and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Eric J. Toder is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute, where he supervises studies on Social Security and tax issues in the Income and Benefits Center and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. He has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis at the Treasury Department. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.

Joseph Bankman is the Ralph M. Parsons Professor of Law and Business at Stanford University. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California Law Center and an attorney with Tuttle & Taylor. He holds an A.B. from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Yale University.

Grover G. Norquist is the President of Americans for Tax Reform, a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal and state tax increases. He holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

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About the Tax Reform Panel:

The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform was established by President Bush on January 7, 2005. President Bush has charged the bipartisan panel with recommending reforms to the tax code that will make the U.S. tax system simpler, fairer and more growth oriented.

Panel Members

Connie Mack III (Chairman), former U.S. Senator. Senator Mack served as Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and was a member of the Finance and Banking committees. He is a Senior Advisor at King & Spalding LLP.

John Breaux (Vice-Chairman), former U.S. Senator. Senator Breaux served on the Finance Committee and the sub-committee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. He is Senior Counsel at Patton Boggs LLP.

William E. Frenzel, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Frenzel served on the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Frenzel is a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Elizabeth Garrett, Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics and Political Science, University of Southern California. Ms. Garrett served as Legislative Director and Tax and Budget Counsel to former U.S. Senator David L. Boren.

Edward P. Lazear, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution and Professor of Human Resources, Management and Economics, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Mr. Lazear is the founding editor of the Journal of Labor Economics.

Timothy J. Muris, Foundation Professor, George Mason School of Law and Of Counsel, O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Mr. Muris served as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004.

James M. Poterba, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Poterba serves as Associate Department Head. He has taught at MIT since 1982.

Charles O. Rossotti, Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group. Mr. Rossotti served from 1997 to 2002 as Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He formerly served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of American Management Systems.

Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist, Charles Schwab. Ms. Sonders joined U.S. Trust, a division of Charles Schwab, in 1999 as a Managing Director and member of its Investment Policy Committees.

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