IRI Hosts Members of the Great State Hural

September 13, 2005

From September 13-21, 2005, a delegation of six parliamentarians serving in Mongolia's State Great Hural traveled to the United States for an IRI-sponsored study tour focused on how U.S. governance systems operate at the federal, state and local levels.

The delegation met with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, who recently led a congressional delegation to Mongolia. During the meeting, Speaker Hastert and the delegates engaged in a discussion about transparency and corruption issues. The delegates also joined IRI board member and House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) in a press conference urging a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Mongolia. Chairman Dreier and his colleagues Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Tom Cole (R-OK), and Adam Putnam (R-FL) recently introduced a resolution calling for a free trade agreement.

The delegates also traveled to Denver, Colorado, where they met with Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former members of the Colorado State Assembly. These meetings in Colorado focused on how state and local governance systems address transparency issues and environmental policies. Additionally, the delegation met with the staff of Rep. Bob Beauprez' (R-CO) district office to discuss how federal elected officials can provide constituent services.

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