June 18,2008

Finance Panel Approves Montana’s Ed Eck To IRS Oversight Board

Full Senate vote is next step; Finance Chairman Baucus urged nomination of law school dean

Washington, DC – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Committee
members today approved for Senate consideration the nomination of E. Edwin Eck II, Dean of
the University of Montana School of Law, to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Oversight
Board. The Committee approved the nomination by a voice vote during an open executive
session. Eck was raised in Lewistown, Mont., graduated from Carleton College, then went on to
obtain a law degree from the University of Montana and an LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown
University. He began teaching at UM in 1981 and was appointed Dean in 1995. Baucus, who
helped create the IRS Oversight Board in 1998, encouraged the Montana law and tax expert’s
nomination to the panel.

“Dean Eck brings with him 30 years of experience with the tax laws, as a practitioner, as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney, and as a professor at the University of Montana. The IRS will
undoubtedly be better agency with Dean Eck’s oversight,” Baucus said. “I’m so pleased to
have an expert like Ed serving the interests of Montanans and all Americans at the IRS. I
know he’ll do an outstanding job.”

Dean Eck has established himself as an expert in estate and charitable tax law and has worked to create a joint JD/MBA program and new certifications in environmental law and dispute
resolution at UM. In addition, he established an initiative that allows law faculty to present
programs around the state, reaching out to Montana’s most rural areas.

The IRS Oversight Board consists of nine members chosen without regard to party and assigned
the task of supervising the IRS’s execution and application of the internal revenue laws. The
Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue serve on the Board, and the remaining seven members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each Presidential appointee serves a five-year term. The nominations are considered by the Senate Finance Committee.

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