New Chairman elected

On December 14, 2007, the Commission elected David M. Mason as its Chairman for 2008.

Chairman Mason was appointed to the Commission on March 4, 1998, by President William Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 30, 1998. He was nominated for a second term by President George W. Bush on December 19, 2005.

Prior to his nomination, Chairman Mason served as a Senior Fellow in Congressional Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He joined Heritage in 1990 as Director of Executive Branch Liaison. In 1995 he became Vice President, Government Relations, and in 1997 he was designated Senior Fellow with a focus on research, writing and commentary on Congress and national politics.

Before joining the Heritage Foundation, Chairman Mason served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, where he managed the Pentagon’s relations with the U.S. House of Representatives. One of his major accomplishments was guiding the base closing legislation to a successful conclusion.

Chairman Mason served on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant to Senator John Warner, Legislative Director to Representative Tom Bliley and Staff Director to then-House Republican Whip Trent Lott. He worked in numerous Congressional, Senatorial, Gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns, and was himself the Republican nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 48th District in 1982.

Chairman Mason attended Lynchburg College in Virginia and graduated cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in California.