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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 21, 2003

Statement on Appointment of Deputy National Security Advisor
Statement by the Press Secretary

Frances Fragos Townsend Has Been Appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism, effective June 1, 2003.

Ms. Townsend will serve on the staff of the National Security Council and report to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. She will also report to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security with respect to matters relating to global terrorism in the United States.

Ms. Townsend comes to the White House from the U.S. Coast Guard, where she has been serving as Assistant Commandant for Intelligence. Prior to being named Director of Coast Guard Intelligence in August 2001, Ms. Townsend spent 13 years at the U.S. Department of Justice in a variety of senior positions, her last assignment as Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy. Ms. Townsend began her prosecutorial career in 1985 as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York.

Ms. Townsend holds a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Psychology from American University; she received her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. Ms. Townsend and her husband, John, have two sons.

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