FOR RELEASE	Contact: Dennis Watson
03/01/99 (Monday)	(202) 565-1596
No. 99-8	FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
	www.stb.gov

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD ANNOUNCES SWEARING IN OF WAYNE BURKES AS BOARD MEMBER

Surface Transportation Board (Board) Chairman Linda J. Morgan today announced that Wayne Burkes was sworn in as the Board's fifth member since the agency's creation in 1996.

Commissioner Burkes, a Republican from Mississippi, was recommended for service on the Board by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, was nominated to the Board by President Clinton, and was confirmed by the Senate on February 22, 1999, for a term expiring December 31, 2002.

Commissioner Burkes is a native of Mississippi with a distinguished career in the military, public service, and private sectors. Prior to joining the Board, Commissioner Burkes served as Transportation Commissioner of Mississippi's Central District, since March 1989. Before being elected Commissioner, he served four years in the Mississippi House of Representatives and ten years in the Senate. Commissioner Burkes served on Mississippi's Highways and Transportation Committees for the 14-year duration of his legislative experience.

Burkes received his B.S., M.Ed., and LL.D. degrees from Mississippi College, and a M.Div. Degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Air University's Air War College, and the Transportation Executive Institute of the University of Virginia. A longtime Air Force and Air National Guard pilot, Burkes has flown eight different Air Force aircraft for 7,000 flying hours and is a retired Major General from the Mississippi Air National Guard.

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