FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 1999

Contact: 
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240
 

Steven T. McFarland, Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, at the November 22nd meeting of the Commission announced the appointment of senior Commission staff:

• Lawrence J. Goodrich, director of communications. - Mr. Goodrich spent 11 years at The Christian Science Monitor, most recently as Washington-based editorial writer and as the newspapers' congressional correspondent from 1996 to 1998. Among his other positions at the Monitor were features editor, Page 1 coordinator, and assistant national news editor. From 1977 to 1988 he served as a foreign service officer in Romania, Canada, the Soviet Union, and at the State Department.

• T. Jeremy Gunn, director of research. Mr. Gunn comes from the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he worked on international religious-freedom issues. From 1994 to 1998, he served at the JFK Assassination Records Review Board, moving from associate director to general counsel and finally executive director. Gunn was an attorney at Covington & Burling from 1988 to 1994, during which time he earned a doctoral degree in religion from Harvard University.

• Christy Hines, director of governmental relations. Ms. Hines was director of public affairs from 1995 to 1999 at the Strategic Advocacy Group. From 1994 to 1995 she worked in the congressional office of Rep. Bill Thomas of California

• Tracy Shycoff, director of administration. Ms. Shycoff was most recently director of administration of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. From 1994 to 1998, she was associate director for administration and finance and later deputy director of the JFK Assassination Records Review Board. She served as associate director for administration and finance of the National Commission on AIDS from 1991 to 1993.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and acts independently of the executive branch. Its purpose is to advise the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress and to make policy recommendations on issues of international religious freedom. It consists of nine commissioners named by the President and congressional leaders. The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom serves as an ex-officio member.