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BRUSSELS—Womble Bond Dickinson partner and former US Attorney Ripley Rand will be traveling to Belgium for a special NATO Parliamentary Assembly honoring a legacy of transatlantic cooperation.
Rand will present a memorial on former US Rep. Charlie Rose of North Carolina, who died in 2015. Rep. Rose, along with former US Sen. Bill Roth, led American efforts to cooperate with the parliaments of Central and Eastern Europe starting in 1990. Rep. Rose was Rand’s godfather, a long-time friend of his father, and his hometown Congressional representative.
“I doubt Charlie Rose and Bill Roth had any idea in 1990 when they initiated a cooperative program between the North Atlantic Assembly and many Central and Eastern European countries that they were creating a vibrant, multidimensional partnership that would be going strong and expanding into new arenas almost thirty years later. The work of the Rose-Roth seminar participants through the International Secretariat of NATO-PA has been, and will continue to be, crucial in the ongoing effort to address complex international problems and meet emerging security challenges,” Rand said.
Sen. Roth, who passed away in 2003, also will be honored at the 100th Rose-Roth Programme, which takes place April 25-26.
According to NATO, “The original goal of the program was to assist partner countries in Central and Eastern Europe through their challenging transition process to democracy after the fall of the Berlin wall, which involved the implementation of difficult political and economic reforms. The program has evolved to include parliamentarians from an increasing number of non-NATO countries. Today it aims to enhance parliamentary awareness, to build contacts and provide experience and expertise. Particular attention is paid to promoting the principle of the democratic control of armed forces and to the development of effective parliamentary oversight of defense and the military.”
Since its creation in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly has provided a forum for members of parliament from across the Atlantic Alliance to discuss and influence decisions on Alliance security. Through its work and activities, the Assembly facilitates parliamentary awareness and understanding of the key issues affecting the security of the Euro-Atlantic area and supports national parliamentary oversight over defense and security.
Before law school, Rand spent a year working as a research assistant with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (then known as the North Atlantic Assembly).
Click here to read a press release from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
