FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Baucus, and members of the Committee on Finance, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

I am honored that President Bush has nominated me to serve as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and, if confirmed, to have the opportunity to work with Secretary O'Neill, the Treasury staff, and others in the Administration to advance the President's economic agenda.

If confirmed, I also look forward to working closely with this Committee, the Senate, and with members of the House of Representatives on the broad range of issues addressed by the Office of Domestic Finance.

Throughout our history, the operations of the Department of the Treasury have played an important role in the evolution of our financial system. The strength and resilience of this system is itself a precious asset. In addition to serving as an advisor to Secretary O'Neill on capital market and financial institution issues, and on debt management, fiscal policy and financial management issues, I especially hope to have the opportunity to work with this Committee to improve upon the efficiency with which the federal government's obligations are financed over the coming years.

My fifteen years of experience with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has given me the opportunity to learn first-hand about the forces shaping the increasingly global banking and capital markets. As manager of the Federal Reserve's monetary operations since 1995, I have been afforded the unique vantage point of active participation in financial markets from a position of public responsibility. In this capacity I have worked with members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Reserve Bank Presidents in the formulation and implementation of monetary policy.

I have worked with senior Treasury officials on debt management and capital market issues and in the implementation of exchange rate policy. In both of these capacities, I have had the opportunity to learn from the experience of central bankers and finance ministry officials from around the world.br

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to appear before the Committee. I hope members of the Committee will support me, and I promise to work diligently and with an open mind on all matters that this Committee may wish to raise with the Office of Domestic Finance. I hope that this will be the beginning of a strong working relationship.

I would like to thank Secretary O'Neill for the confidence he has shown in me by supporting me for this job. I would be pleased to answer any questions that you and other members of the Committee may have.