STATEHOUSE (Oct. 4, 2012) — State Sen. Tom Wyss (R-Fort Wayne) has been appointed to serve as Vice-Chairman of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Law and Criminal Justice Committee.

The committee encourages a balanced state-federal system through policy positions that preserve state sovereignty. Its members are tasked with promoting the group’s stances to Congress on a variety of issues, including capital punishment, drug crime, criminal sentencing and homeland security.

“NCSL has benefitted from Tom Wyss’s expertise over the years,” said NCSL’s President and New Hampshire Rep. Teri Norelli. “His participation will continue to ensure that the states’ agenda is carried out in Washington.”

The appointment follows Wyss’s longstanding leadership in NCSL and is an extension of his expertise and advocacy for homeland security. For the past six years, he has represented the organization on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, the National Homeland Security Consortium and the U.S. Department of Justice’s GLOBAL Advisory Committee. He was named co-chairman of NCSL’s Homeland Security and Preparedness Task Force in 2007.

“I am honored to have been named vice-chairman of this committee that confronts one of our country’s most important issues – public safety,” Wyss said. “It is our duty as lawmakers to promote policy and push for legislation that helps protect American families, and I intend to do so, both through this committee and as an Indiana senator.”

NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves legislators and staffs of the nation’s 50 states, its commonwealths and territories. NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is a respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system. For more information, go to http://www.ncsl.org.