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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 6, 2003

President Names Envoy to Iraq
Statement by the Press Secretary

President Bush today announced the appointment of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, III as Presidential Envoy to Iraq. Ambassador Bremer will serve as the senior Coalition official in Iraq. In his capacity as Presidential Envoy, he will oversee Coalition reconstruction efforts and the process by which the Iraqi people build the institutions and governing structures that will guide their future. General Tommy Franks will maintain command over Coalition military personnel in the theater. Ambassador Bremer will report to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and will advise the President, through the Secretary, on policies designed to achieve American and Coalition goals for Iraq.

Ambassador Bremer was recently the Chairman and CEO of Marsh Crisis Consulting, and was previously Managing Director of the Kissinger Group. He joined the Kissinger Group after 23 years of service in the U.S. Diplomatic Corps under six Secretaries of State. In 1983, Ambassador Bremer was named Ambassador to the Netherlands, and in 1986, President Reagan appointed him Ambassador?At?Large for Counter Terrorism. In 1999, Speaker Hastert appointed him as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism.

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