June 17, 2010
News Release 10-067
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819

Deanna Tanner Okun is serving as Chairman of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) by operation of law.

Okun, the senior Republican on the Commission, became Chairman when outgoing Chairman Shara L. Aranoff's term expired on June 16, 2010. She will serve as Chairman until President Barack Obama designates a Chairman of the Commission.

A Republican of Idaho, Okun was nominated to the USITC by President William J. Clinton on November 10, 1999, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 19, 1999. She was sworn in as a member of the Commission on January 3, 2000, for a term expiring on June 16, 2008. She served as Chairman of the USITC from June 17, 2002, to June 16, 2004. She served two separate terms as Vice Chairman of the ITC, from June 17, 2004, to June 16, 2006, and from June 17, 2000, to June 16, 2002.

Prior to her appointment, Okun served as counsel for international affairs to Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) from 1993-1999, where she was responsible for the international trade issues with which the Senator was involved as a member of the Senate Finance Committee. She also handled international energy and foreign relations issues for the Senator in his position as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Earlier, Okun served as a legislative assistant to Senator Murkowski, where she was responsible for his Foreign Relations Committee work, with an emphasis on East Asian affairs. Prior to her work with the Senator, Okun was an associate attorney and member of the International Trade Group at the Washington, DC, law firm of Hogan & Hartson. Earlier in her career, she was a research associate specializing in trade at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

Okun holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honors from Utah State University and received her J.D. with honors from the Duke University School of Law. She is originally from Paul, Idaho. Currently, Okun resides in McLean, Virginia, with her husband, Bob Okun, and two daughters, Rachel and Kelsi.

The USITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. The USITC investigates and publishes reports on U.S. industries and the global trends that affect them.