Bush picks for Commerce, FMC set to move forward
The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is expected Thursday to recommend to the full Senate the nomination of Theodore Kassinger as deputy secretary for the Commerce Department, according to committee staff members.
Along with Kassinger, the committee is expected to forward the nominations of Joseph Brennan and Paul Anderson to the Federal Maritime Commission.
President Bush selected Kassinger, Commerce's general counsel for almost three years, to replace Sam Bodman, who was recently confirmed as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department. Kassinger will help manage the Census Bureau, among other agencies. He has extensive international trade experience, as an attorney with the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Senate Finance Committee and as a partner at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he represented clients in antidumping, countervailing duty and export license investigations.
Brennan has served on the FMC since 1999 and is seeking another term.
Bush nominated Anderson nearly one year ago. He worked for nine years at Hvide Marine Inc., a Port Everglades, Fla. company with tanker, offshore supply vessel, and barge and tugboat operations prior to his current job as vice president of government relations for an automotive distributor.