U.S. Department of the Treasury

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Chairman Gramm, Ranking Member Sarbanes, and members of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, thank you for the opportunity to appear before your committee 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.

The strength and resilience of our nation's system of financial intermediation is itself a precious asset. In addition to serving as an advisor to Secretary O'Neill on debt management and fiscal policy issues and on capital market and financial institution issues, I especially hope to have the opportunity to work with this Committee to improve upon the efficiency with which our financial system converts the savings of the American people into productive investment.

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 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.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to appear before the Committee. I hope this will be the beginning of a strong working relationship. I would also 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.