NHTSA’s Runge, Continental Teves’ Kozyra to Speak at Automotive Suppliers’ Legislative and Public Policy Summit

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will be joined by William Kozyra, president and CEO of Continental Teves North America, on Thursday, May 6, for a discussion on automotive safety, at the MEMA Legislative and Public Policy Summit: Advancing American Manufacturing, in Washington, D.C. Runge and Kozyra will discuss such topics as NHTSA’s and Congress’ views toward encouraging voluntary industry guidelines vs. mandates and how industry and government should address innovation and technology out-pacing regulation.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC — Dr. Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will be joined by William Kozyra, president and CEO of Continental Teves North America, on Thursday, May 6, for a discussion on automotive safety, at the MEMA Legislative and Public Policy Summit: Advancing American Manufacturing, in Washington, D.C.

Runge and Kozyra will discuss such topics as NHTSA’s and Congress’ views toward encouraging voluntary industry guidelines vs. mandates and how industry and government should address innovation and technology out-pacing regulation. The panel will also examine how suppliers are caught in the middle of the regulatory trend of demanding greater safety, which requires investment in R&D. The business trend of customers demanding cost reductions while transferring greater engineering and product development responsibility to suppliers will also be addressed.

MEMA will convene the inaugural Legislative and Public Policy Summit on Wednesday and Thursday, May 5-6, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. Members of MEMA’s three market segment associations – the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) – will be present to educate legislators and regulators on the diverse automotive suppliers industry. The event is sponsored by Foley & Lardner.

Other featured speakers include:

— Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), chair, Committee on Education and the Workforce
— Robert Cassidy, Collier Shannon Scott PLLC
— Larry Denton, president and CEO, Dura Automotive Systems Inc. and chairman, OESA
— Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), ranking minority member, Energy and Commerce Committee
— Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm
— Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), Chair, Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Ways and Means
— Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)
— Ambassador Josette Shiner, assistant U.S. trade representative

More information and registration for the Summit is available at the MEMA Web site: http://www.mema.org/public/events/pdf/DC_04_brochure_reg.pdf.

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