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WASHINGTON (April 22, 1998) -- Cynthia L. Phillips of Migration and Refugee Services-United States Catholic Conference has been named Assistant Director of the USCC Office of Government Liaison.
Msgr. Dennis M. Schnurr, USCC General Secretary, announced the appointment.
Ms. Phillips has been an immigration and policy analyst with Migration and Refugee Services since January, 1997. For more than three years she served as a staff member in the U.S. Senate. Ms. Phillips was a Domestic Policy Advisor on the Senate Leadership staff and a legislative assistant to Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.
She succeeds Kathleen Kahlau who has left the USCC to explore other professional interests.
"Kathleen Kahlau's two years with the office represented an invaluable contribution to the public policy work of the Conference," said Frank Monahan, Director of the Office of Government Liaison.
"Cynthia Phillips has a rich background of education and experience," Mr. Monahan continued. "Her knowledge and insights, combined with the invaluable experience of working on the staff of the U.S. Senate, will be of great assistance to this office in rising to the policy challenges of the future," he said.
Ms. Phillips graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1986. In 1991 she earned a doctor of laws degree from the University of Texas School of Law where she was a member of the Thurgood Marshall Law Society. She interned with the Children's Rights Clinic at the University of Texas where she was court appointed legal advocate in child custody cases initiated by the Texas Department of Human Services.
Ms. Phillips was staff attorney with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in Washington in 1993.
As legislative assistant in the office of Senator Wellstone, from 1993 to 1995, Ms. Phillips was responsible for analyzing legislative issues regarding Native Americans, welfare and poverty, housing and urban affairs, as well as crime, health and education issues.
From June, 1995 to January, 1997, Ms. Phillips was Domestic Policy Advisor on the Senate Leadership staff where her area of activity included all Judiciary Committee issues including affirmative action, civil rights, immigration, crime and terrorism. She composed special reports and acted as liaison between the Senate leadership staff and the Administration.
With the USCC Office of Government Liaison, Cynthia Phillips will have special responsibility for public policy issues in the area of social development and world peace.