(Archived Content)
Mr. Chairman, Senator Moynihan, and members of the Committee:
I am honored to appear before you today as the President's nominee to be Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance.
I am very pleased to have my family here with me today: my wife, Francesca; my three daughters, Anna, Lee and Isabel; my parents, Sam and Jane Gensler; and my twin brother Robert. I want to thank them for all of their support.
I hope that my educational and professional background has prepared me for the position to which I have been nominated. I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and received a first rate education in the public schools of my home state. I then attended the Wharton School, of the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied finance and accounting. I earned both a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and an MBA from Wharton. I then spent 18 years at the investment banking firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co., first as an employee and later as a partner. For most of those years, I was a senior professional in the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Department. I then gained both trading and international experience as the head of Goldman Sachs' debt and currency trading efforts in Japan.
I began serving as the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets in September, 1997. Among my duties, I have supervised the offices that concentrate on federal finance policy and federal credit policy. I have also worked with other members of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets to monitor and study the functioning of the capital markets. In addition, I have worked on matters of government financial policy. During the past year, I have had the privilege of working with many talented individuals. In particular, I would like to extend my compliments to the career staff at Treasury, who have impressed me with their dedication and professionalism.
At this time, the Treasury Department is deeply involved in addressing some of the most critical issues facing our nation. If confirmed as Under Secretary, I hope to be able to make a contribution in addressing these challenges. One of my top priorities will be to assist the Secretary in his efforts to strengthen and stabilize our global capital markets. In addition, I look forward to continuing the Department's important work on policy areas related to financial institutions, fiscal affairs, financial markets and community development. In particular, I would like to emphasize my commitment to building upon the Department's efforts to promote growth and opportunity in America's economically distressed areas.
I wish to thank the President and Secretary Rubin for the confidence that they have placed in me. Public service is a great honor for me. I pledge to the Committee that, if confirmed, I will devote my full energies to serving the Department and the public interest.
I now look forward to answering your questions and, if confirmed, working with this Committee, its Members, and your staff.