FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Senator Allen and Members of the Committee, for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is a great honor to have been nominated by President Bush to be the United States Executive Director for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and I am particularly grateful to have the privilege of appearing before you.

Before proceeding with my statement, and with your permission Mr. Chairman, I would like to acknowledge two members of my family who are here with me today. They are my son, Jamie, who is currently engaged in government service, and my daughter, Abby, who recently graduated from college and is interested in pursuing a career in international relations. My wife of thirty years, Susan, could not be here today. She is studying for her comprehensive exams for her Masters degree in special education focusing on children with learning disabilities.

The agreement establishing the EBRD provides that the purpose of the Bank is to foster the transition towards market-oriented economies and to promote private sector and entrepreneurial initiative in its countries of operations that are committed to and applying the principles of multi-party democracy and pluralism. The President and Secretary O’Neill have articulated an agenda for enhancing development in such countries, with a focus on productivity growth and stressing the importance of private investment and human capital. At the Bank’s annual meeting in Bucharest last month, the Secretary said that the EBRD was well designed and well positioned to advance that agenda. I share the Secretary’s conviction that the Bank has a positive role to play in the twenty-seven transition countries. If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, it would be a great privilege and honor to represent the United States on the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

My career includes both public and private sector experience. As an attorney, the majority of my work has been in the financial services area where I have represented a variety of financial services providers in transactional and policy matters.

My practice also involved a successful effort to include a consumer finance chapter in the North American Free Trade Agreement and representing clients on projects in Central America, the Middle East and Romania. More recently, I have been involved in working on the development of secondary market mechanisms for the securitization of the unguaranteed portions of Section 7(a) SBA guaranteed loans.

During my government service, I was privileged to have the Senate confirm me as the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury and I dealt with issues including foreign debt restructurings, sanctions programs, foreign investment in the United States and foreign military sales among many others. I also served on the board of the Federal Financing Bank and as a member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States and was a member of its Special Committee on Financial Services.

I am particularly grateful to President Bush for the opportunity to serve my country. If confirmed, I hope that each of my experiences over the last thirty years will enable me to serve as an effective U.S.E.D. to the EBRD and advance the interests of the United States.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before you and the Committee today. I would be pleased to answer any questions that you and the other members of the Committee may have.