UPDATE: Former Speaker of the House to deliver keynote at NACDS Annual meeting

ARLINGTON, Va. — In the tradition of attracting major political trailblazers to the stage, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores on Tuesday announced that former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner, R-Ohio, will deliver the keynote address on Sunday, April 17, 2016 during the NACDS Annual Meeting. 

 

“It’s an honor to have former Speaker Boehner address the NACDS Annual Meeting, just a few months after his high-profile decision to move on from the U.S. Congress. This is exactly what we mean when we say that NACDS provides meeting attendees with timely and relevant insights from those most qualified to deliver them,” Steve Anderson, NACDS president and CEO, said. “Not only does he bring insights on recent policy and political battles that are making this a highly unique time in American history, but he also has the benefit of significant context by serving in Congress for 25 years. This is going to be a compelling Business Program and part of a truly must-attend NACDS Annual Meeting.” 

 

A former small businessman, Boehner served as the 53rd Speaker of the House for nearly five years during which he led the drive for a smaller, less costly and more accountable federal government. Boehner was elected to the House in 1990 and represented Ohio’s 8th Congressional District for nearly 25 years.  

 

During his tenure, Boehner took a strong stand against pork-barrel spending and, as part of the reform-minded “Gang of Seven,” forced the closure of the House Bank and House Post Office. His reputation as a reformer grew as he worked alongside then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., helping to craft the Contract with America in 1994, and helped lead the effort to enact the first balanced federal budget in a generation. 

 

Boehner also served as chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and wrote legislation to expand school choice, strengthen America’s pension system and reform the federal education bureaucracy to demand results for students and parents. 

 

Elected as House Majority Leader in 2006, Boehner was chosen to become House Republican Leader later that year. He became Speaker of the House in 2011, and focused on an agenda of removing government barriers to private-sector job creation and economic growth, addressing the nation’s debt and helping to restore confidence between Americans and their elected officials in Washington.