[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1139]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING MR. THIERRY PORTE FOR HIS APPOINTMENT AS CHAIRMAN OF THE 
                    JAPAN-U.S. FRIENDSHIP COMMISSION

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                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 29, 2008

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this time to 
congratulate Mr. Thierry Porte for his recent appointment as the new 
Chairman of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the U.S.-
Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON).
  Mr. Porte, who is the President and CEO of Shinsei Bank, Ltd. has a 
long and established history as an advocate for exchanges of ideas and 
culture between the U.S. and Japan. His distinguished experience in the 
business community as the first American to head a major Japanese bank 
combined with his work as Chairman of the U.S.-Japan Bridging 
Foundation's Tokyo Advisory Board in promoting better educational and 
cultural relations between the two countries make him uniquely 
qualified for this position.
  As a member of the JUSFC, which was established as an independent 
Federal agency by Congress in 1975 to administer a trust fund and makes 
grant to promote scholarly, cultural and public affairs activities 
between Japan and the U.S., I look forward to working with Mr. Porte 
over the next few years on coordinating the goals of the Commission and 
moving the bilateral relationship forward.

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