| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| April 25, 2002 | Renae Reedy (651-296-9895) |
Rep. Kevin Goodno (R-Moorhead) was awarded the Marshall Memorial Fellowship for an intensive study tour of Europe this summer. Along with 38 other fellows from across the United States, Goodno will spend three weeks in Europe, traveling and exploring a host of transatlantic economic, political and social issues.
Marshall Memorial Fellows are selected through a rigorous process of nomination, application and essay, and one-on-one interviews by a regional selection committee. They must be between the ages of 28 to 40, have an outstanding record of achievement and show a strong potential for leadership within their professional sector and country. Fellows come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including business, local and state government, non-government organizations, law and the media.
Representative Goodno is an attorney who has been serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 1990. He was appointed Chairman of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee in 1998 and has earned a reputation for his common-sense leadership on emotionally- charged issues such as welfare reform, nursing home funding and the state's tobacco endowment. This fall, Goodno was selected by House Speaker Steve Sviggum to lead the state's highly visible Stadium Task Force and is currently the lead House negotiator on the Budget Reconciliation Conference Committee.
As part of the fellowship, Goodno will travel to five countries in Europe from May 31 to June 23. The program combines one-on-one meetings, site visits, hands-on experiences, and formal briefings to provide a variety of perspectives on key issues affecting Europe and the transatlantic relationship.
"I'm honored to have been selected for this fellowship," Goodno said. "I'm looking forward to the learning experience, and being able to apply that knowledge in my work as a legislator and throughout my life."
The German Marshall Fund of the United States is an American institution that stimulates the exchange of ideas and promotes collaboration between the United States and Europe in the spirit of the postwar Marshall Plan. The fund was created in 1972 by a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan aid.
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