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R.D. FOLSOM
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R.D. Folsom joined Wexler & Walker in 1998, bringing extensive experience in securing the passage of several international trade agreements and a wide variety of other trade bills. Mr. Folsom has provided legislative and policy advice to the White House, Congress, Executive Branch agencies and private sector clients for more than 30 years. A veteran of the Washington political and lobbying scene, Mr. Folsom is recognized as one of the Capital’s top trade lobbyists.
Mr. Folsom represents both US and international interests, developing industry coalitions and generating domestic support for trade legislation and international agreements. Mr. Folsom has focused on trade liberalization policy and lobbying since 1983 and has been actively involved in a significant number of major trade issues considered by Congress since that time. He was a founding member in 1990 of the steering committee for permanent normal trade relations with China and renewal of China’s MFN status.
As Executive Director of the American-Australian Free Trade Agreement Coalition from 2001-2004, Mr. Folsom built a business/argriculture alliance that became the major force for enactment of the free trade agreement between the US and Australia. Beginning in 2004, he served as Executive Director of the Comprehensive Market Access Coalition, a diverse union of business and agriculture interests, he pursued a strategy for the enactment of a comprehensive Central America Free Trade Agreement that did not exclude any business sector.
Mr. Folsom received his BA and JD degrees from the University of Oklahoma and is a member of the DC Bar. He began his governmental work for former Speaker Carl Albert. He later served as a counsel to the House Interior and Senate Energy Committees, and then as a member of President Carter's Domestic Policy Staff. During the 2008 Presidential election, Folsom was a volunteer attorney for the Obama Campaign’s Protect the Vote effort in Virginia. He is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
