Statement by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Confirmation of Mario Mancuso to be Under Secretary for Export Administration

WASHINGTON - Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez issued the following statement upon Senate confirmation of Mario Mancuso, the President’s nominee to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration:

"I thank the Senate for its prompt confirmation of Mario Mancuso. His talent and wealth of experience will help guide the Bureau of Industry and Security at a time when the Bureau is involved in advancing many crucial issues vital to the security of our country."

Gutierrez noted that reauthorization of the statute guiding dual-use export control policy, keeping export controls aligned with foreign policy and national security interests, changes in technology and the economy, and addressing key defense industrial base issues are among the priorities the bureau is and will be addressing under Mancuso’s leadership.

Background

Mancuso will head the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which advances U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives by ensuring an effective export control and treaty compliance system and promoting continued U.S. strategic technology leadership.

A combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Mancuso has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism since August 2005. He is the Defense Department's senior civilian official with immediate responsibility for the Department's global counterterrorism portfolio, which includes policy oversight of sensitive special operations missions and formulation and refinement of the Department's global counterterrorism strategy.

Prior to his government service, Mancuso was a member of a leading international law firm Shearman & Sterling in New York and London, with expertise on global business and national security issues, where he represented leading investment banks and technology companies in corporate transactions in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Mancuso has also represented numerous foreign and domestic issuers in connection with their offerings on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, and from New York University School of Law. Before entering private legal practice, Mancuso was law clerk to the Hon. Thomas C. Platt (EDNY), and served as an infantry officer with the U.S. Army.