July 08,2008

Senate Confirms Montana’s Ed Eck To IRS Oversight Board

Finance Chairman Baucus urged nomination of law school dean

Washington, DC – The Senate approved by unanimous consent last night Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) nomination of E. Edwin Eck II, Dean of the University of
Montana School of Law, to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Oversight Board. 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.

“The Senate did right by the American taxpayers when it put Ed Eck on the IRS oversight
board,” Baucus said. “A proven administrator and an outstanding tax expert, Dean Eck is
exactly the type of person we had in mind to provide guidance and stability to the IRS when
the Finance Committee created the Oversight Board. I know he’ll make Montanans - and
all Americans - very proud.”

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. 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. Dean Eck’s nomination was approved by the Senate Finance Committee in June.

# # #