Homeland Security Chief Appoints Glen M. Paine to MERPAC

Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has appointed Glen M. Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI), to the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) for a term of office that expires on January 31, 2007.

"It is a pleasure to appoint you to the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee. I greatly appreciate your willingness to serve on the Committee and am confident the Department will benefit from your ideas and experience," said Mr. Chertoff.

"I appreciate the opportunity to work with Mr. Chertoff, Mr. Norman Mineta, Secretary of the Department of Transportation, and with Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, on matters relating to the training, qualification, licensing, certification, and fitness of seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine," Mr. Paine said.

MERPAC was established in 1992, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Committee consists of nineteen members who have particular areas of expertise, knowledge, and experience in the maritime industry. Most members have terms that last for three years. The Committee was designed to advise, consult, and make recommendations reflecting its independent judgment on the enormous task of developing a comprehensive set of STCW-95 performance guidelines. For more information on MERPAC, please visit the U.S. Coast Guard website at http://www.uscg.mil/hq.