KEY HOUSE STAFFER JOINS NAB LOBBY TEAM

Kelly Cole, a top Republican staffer on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will join the NAB as vice president of government relations.

Cole is one in a series of new hires by the NAB Government Relations department that will include both Republicans and Democrats. She will report to NAB Executive Vice President Douglas Wiley.

Cited by National Journal as one of Capitol Hill’s top staffers, Cole has served for six years as majority counsel for the committee, which is chaired by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.). There, she handled mass media, Internet and satellite issues.

Prior to that, Cole practiced law at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds in Washington and Portland, Ore.

“Kelly is one of the smart people who have come to the Energy and Commerce Committee staff, worked hard and succeeded,” said Barton. “Her commitment to public service, her policy expertise and professionalism, and her can-do attitude made us proud of her. We were lucky to have Kelly for six years, and I know she will make her mark at NAB.”

Cole received her J.D. in 1996 from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Ore. She also holds a bachelors degree from Mills College in Oakland, Calif.