The Annual Legislative Conference: a historic conference for historic times. (National Commentary).(National Association of Credit Management and Commercial Law League of America joint conference)(Brief Article)

One of the great opportunities for the corporate credit professional each year is the NACM Annual Legislative Conference that takes place in Washington, D.C. The 2002 conference, which is scheduled from March 10-12 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, promises to be the most unique gathering that we have planned in the 31 years of hosting such conferences.

We are particularly excited this year because the conference will be co-hosted by the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA). Given the wide commonality of interests between the two organizations and the highly charged political landscape in Washington, D.C., this promises to be a conference of extraordinary value. Together with the CLLA, we have developed a program and a series of speakers that will provide some rare insights and unique perspectives on the events of 2001. We believe that those who attend this year's conference will enjoy a vision of what can be expected on the economic, political and social scenes for the coming years. This truly is the most ambitious program we have ever presented.

There is virtually no issue currently under consideration by Congress or any of the regulatory agencies that was not affected by the events of last year. The response by Washington, D.C. to the terrorist attacks and to a sagging economy exacerbated by the terrorist attacks has been unprecedented and unfinished. Together with the CLLA, NACM will examine some of the farreaching implications that these policy debates will have on both corporate America and the small businesses responding to these challenges.

We believe we have developed a series of distinguished panels that will examine the impact that the war on terrorism will have on economic trends, on money laundering regulations, on international trade practices and on an economic stimulus package. Contentious issues like privacy protections in areas like finance and commerce are being reexamined as part of the response to these developments.

We will present Congressional representatives to discuss the effect that the war on terrorism has had and will have in the coming years on American interests here and abroad. Conference attendees will hear from speakers with backgrounds in the U.S. intelligence community about the impact that the war in Afghanistan is having on the world community and on our trading partners.

While most of us do not understand the consequences that these events have on our daily lives, ...