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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'>Obama
recess appointments include help for trade ambassador Ron Kirk<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'>Saturday, March
27, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'>http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032710dnnatobamaappointments.1ecb149e6.html<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'>By TODD J.
GILLMAN / The <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City>
Morning News<br>
<a href="mailto:tgillman@dallasnews.com">tgillman@dallasnews.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:State> – Among
the 15 recess appointments President Barack Obama issued on Saturday were two
key trade officials, filling a vacuum that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk
– the former <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Dallas</st1:City></st1:place>
mayor – has complained about. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Until
now, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> has
lacked a trade negotiator in <st1:City w:st="on">Geneva</st1:City>,
headquarters of the World Trade Organization, and a chief agriculture
negotiator – hampering export promotion and leaving trading partners to
wonder about the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
commitment to the WTO, Kirk said at a recent National Press Club luncheon. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“At
some point, this begins to strain our credibility and the good will that we
have worked so hard to regenerate around the world, because the world believes
you don't care. You don’t have an ambassador in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Geneva</st1:place></st1:City>, how can you be serious about the Doha
Round?” Kirk said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Kirk may
have had some inkling that Obama was planning to send him help during the
Easter recess. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“March
Madness is absolutely my favorite time of the year,” Kirk said at the
Press Club on March 9. “I live for this. But none of you would want to
coach a basketball team in which three, four of your star players are told that
they have to sit out of the game for no reason. Their grades are fine, they
don’t have an injury, they haven't violated any rules. But, because of
the unique wonders of our Senate parliamentary procedures, we don’t have
an ambassador in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Geneva</st1:place></st1:City>,
although he has been approved by the Senate Finance Committee. We don’t
have an agricultural ambassador.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>During a
congressional recess, presidents are allowed to circumvent the Senate
confirmation process by naming officials on an interim basis. The White House
cited “Republican obstruction” that has left important posts vacant
for months. At least one – for the National Labor Relations Board –
faced stiff resistance in business circles. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The trade
picks were apparently less controversial. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For
deputy trade representative to serve in Geneva, Obama named Michael Punke, a
former Clinton aide and, before that, a trade adviser to Sen. Max Baucus,
D-Mont., who now chairs the committee that oversees trade. Since January, Punke
has served as a consultant to the U.S. Trade Representative. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>As chief
agricultural negotiator, Obama installed Islam Siddiqui, who served in the
Clinton USDA, spent 28 years at the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, and is currently an executive at CropLife <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Underscoring
the priority he’s putting on export growth to boost the economy, Obama
also named an undersecretary of Commerce for international trade, Francisco
Sanchez. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>He also
filled a post of keen interest in <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State> and <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>, naming
Alan Bersin as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. That’s part
of the Homeland Security Department, where Bersin is currently an assistant
secretary and “border czar.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'>Andrew Gussert<br>
Director, Citizens Trade Campaign<br>
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">1150 17th Street N.W.,
Suite 300</st1:address></st1:Street><br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place> 20036</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=gray face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:gray'>Cell#:
202.494.8826<br>
Fax#: 202.293.5308<br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy'><a
href="http://www.citizenstrade.org"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>www.citizenstrade.org</span></font></a></span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=gray face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:gray'>skype/agussert</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=gray face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:gray'>facebook/gussert<br>
twitter/agussert</span></font><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>To receive regular trade updates, </span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><a
href="http://www.citizenstrade.org/mailman/listinfo/ctcfield"><font color=gray><span
style='color:gray'>click here.</span></font></a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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