But let's back up a little bit. If there is a single event that brings the Washington trade community together each year, it is the Annual Awards Dinner of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and the Washington International Trade Foundation (WITF). It's a tradition that has been going on for a while now. The Trade Prom that was held a little over a week ago, on July 12, was the 23rd. As for the men and women who are given awards, some of them are published in advance. Indeed, the fact that well known Congressional leaders are being given awards is part of the appeal, part of the advertising for the event. This year, for example, Congressional Leadership Awards were presented to
Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican, and to Congressman
Rick Larsen from Washington, a Democrat.
There is one award that is a secret. Even the recipient has no clue. It is the
Lighthouse Award. In years past the presentation was a joint effort between Walmart's
Sarah Thorn and Caterpillar's
Bill Lane. Together, they turned those ten minutes of the Trade Prom into a routine that would have made George Burns and Gracie Allen envious. Bill Lane has retired, however, and so this year Sarah Thorn was on her own. In the end, she decided to call in assistance from one of the trade world's big guns, Angela Ellard. Before she did, however, Ms. Thorn offered a few thoughts worth noting. Among other things,
Sarah said:
"The Lighthouse Award is my favorite part of the Prom. It's wonderful because we get to honor one of our own."
"That's who we should be honoring -- people who are doing the hard work, who believe in trade, and are there consistently."
After quoting from the Declaration of Independence,
"This country actually went to war partly for the ability to trade. That's why we need trade warriors. That's why we need people in the trenches thinking about trade, doing the right thing, and thinking about how trade benefits consumers and workers around the world."
And then, a few sentences later, Ms. Thorn asked Angela Ellard to come to the microphone, to say a few words, and to present the award. Both Ms. Thorn and Ms. Ellard noted some of the basic career facts of the person they were about to honor:
Now a Commissioner at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Meredith Broadbent is a former
Chairwoman of the ITC.
She has held the
William M. Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
She served as the
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access and Telecommunications at a time when the world was still hopeful about the Doha Round.
She was on the staff of the
House Committee on Ways and Means when Congress was writing the implementing legislation for NAFTA and the Uruguay Round.
And, from 2009-2010, she served as a volunteer
Trade Adviser to the Global Business Dialogue.
Those are the bare bones of Ms. Broadbent's biography. More important, in a sense, are the elements added by Sarah Thorn and Angela Ellard. Here is some of what
Angela said:
"What is so impressive about [Meredith] is that, not only is she a very substantive person, very policy oriented, she thinks about all the people behind the particular problem she's working on."
"And she's always worked on a very bipartisan basis, bringing excellence to the table and a lot of creativity."