Hispanic Appointments by the Bush Administration

June 1, 2001

Over the last five and a half months President Bush has announced the following:
(Use of the term "intends to nominate" primarily means that FBI clearances
are ongoing and that the names may have not yet been submitted to the United
States Senate for confirmation.)

·        The President intends to nominate Rebecca O. Campoverde to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Legislative and Congressional Affairs.  She is currently the Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce and has been with the committee since 1999. From 1993 to 1998 she worked as a private government relations consultant, and served at the U.S. Department of Education from 1986 to 1993 in several positions including Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary and Director of the Executive Secretariat from 1991 to 1993.  She is a graduate of Northwestern University.

·        The President intends to nominate Dionel M. Aviles to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management.  He is currently a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services where he has served since 1995.  From 1991 to 1995 he served at the Office of Management and Budget as Assistant to the Director of the National Security Division and as a budget examiner overseeing Navy procurement and research and development programs in the President's national defense budget.  A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and received a M.B.A. from George Washington University. 

·        The President intends to nominate Diane K. Morales to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Material Readiness.  She is currently President of DMS, Inc in Alexandria, Virginia, and served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics from 1990 to 1993. From 1988 to 1990 she was President of Morales Consulting Service Company, defense consulting firm.  She served at the Office of Management and Budget from 1985 to 1986 and was member of the Civil Aeronautics Board from 1983 to 1985.  Originally from Texas, she is a graduate of the University of Texas.

·        The President intends to nominate William A. Navas, Jr. to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.  Most recently he was Director of the Army National Guard of the United States from 1995 to 1998.  From 1994 to 1995, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff for Reserve Affairs and from 1992 to 1994 he served as Military Executive for the Reserve Forces Policy Board.  Navas was Deputy Director of the Army National Guard from 1987 to 1990 and then Vice-Chief of the National Guard Bureau from 1990 to 1992.  A veteran of the U.S. Army, he is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, received a Master's from the University of Bridgeport and completed a Program for Senior Managers in Government from the Kennedy School of Government.

·        The President intends to nominate Miguel angel Estrada as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington D.C. Circuit.  If confrmed he will be the first Hispanic Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

·        Mel Martinez, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

·        Jimmy Gurule is being named by the President as Undersecratary of the Treasury for Enforcement, a post that oversees the Secret Service, the Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco and Firearms and other law enforcement responsibilities at the Treasury Department.

·        The President intends to nominate Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., to be First Vice
President of the Export Import Bank of the United States for the remainder
of a four year term expiring January 20, 2005.  Aguirre is currently the
President of Bank of America's International Private Bank.

·        The President intends to nominate Michael J. Garcia to be Assistant
Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement.  Garcia has served as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York since 1992.

·        The President intends to nominate Rosario Marin to be Treasurer of the
United States.  She currently holds a seat on the City Council of Huntington
Park, California, and is a Public Relations Manager for AT&T.  She was first
elected in 1994 and served in the Pete Wilson administration.

·        The President intends to nominate J. Robert Flores to be Administrator of
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  Flores is
currently the Vice President and Senior Counsel for the National Law Center
for Children and Families and is also Legal Counsel to Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies.

·        The President intends to appoint Carlos M. Ramirez to be Commissioner of the
United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission for
the United States and Mexico. Ramirez is currently serving his second term
as Mayor of El Paso,

·        The President intends to nominate Anna Maria Farias to be Assistant
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity.  She is presently a State Commissioner on the Texas Commission
on Human Rights and was most recently the Executive Director of the Housing
Authority of the city of Crystal City, Texas.

·        The President intends to nominate Otto J. Reich to be an Assistant Secretary
of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.  He is presently the President of
RMA International Inc.  Reich served from 1986 to 1989 as U.S. Ambassador to
Venezuela and received the State Department's Exemplary Service Award and
Superior Honor Award.  He was Special Advisor to the Secretary of State from
1983 to 1986.

·        The President intends to nominate Lou Gallegos to be Assistant Secretary of
Agriculture for Administration. He currently serves as Chief of Staff to
Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico and has served as the Secretary of the
New Mexico Human Services Department.

·        The President intends to nominate Hector V. Barretto to be Administrator of
the Small Business Administration.  He is currently the President of Barreto
Insurance and Financial Services in Los Angeles, California, and serves as
the Vice Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

·        The President intends to nominate Jacob Lozada, of Puerto Rico, to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

·        Alfred Rascon, of California, to be Director of Selective Service, vice Gil Coronado, resigned.The President intends to nominate Alfred Rascon to be Director of the Selective Service.  Most recently he served as Inspector General of the Selective Service and has also served as a Special Agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.  He served with the Drug Enforcement Agency as an Intelligence Operations Specialist, and from 1976 to 1984 he was a U.S. Army military liaison officer in the Republic of Panama.  Rascon was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Clinton for military service during the Vietnam War.  Originally from California, he is a graduate of California Coast University and Excelsior College at the University of New York State.

·        The President intends to nominate Tony Armendariz to be a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.  Armendariz completed a term as a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority in 1997 after being appointed by former President George H. W. Bush.  He served as General Counsel to the University System of South Texas from 1978 to 1989 and has served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Texas Attorney General’s Office and as a District Counsel for the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission in Houston, Texas.  A veteran of the U.S. Army, he is a graduate of Trinity University and received his law degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

·        The President intends to appoint the following  3 Latinos of 24 individuals to serve as Members of the Commission on Presidential Scholars.  The Commission selects, recognizes and honors high achieving, high school seniors from across the country.  The President has designated Brunno V. Manno to serve as Chairman of the Commission.

--Modesto A. Maidique of Florida
--Manuel Lujan, Jr. of New Mexico
--Glen Thomas Becerra of California  

·        Social Security Commission

The Following two Latinos have been named to the President's Social Security Commission

--Robert Deposada (R-Executive Director, Hispanic Business Roundtable and President and CEO of ONE Research and Marketing, Inc)

--Fidel Vargas (D-Former mayor of Baldwin Park, California and current Vice President of Reliant Equity Investors)

·        The President intends to nominate Michael Montelongo to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management.  He is presently a Senior Project Manager with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young in Atlanta, Georgia, and has been with Ernst & Young since1999.  He was previously Chief of Staff and Director of Small Business Services for BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.  From 1995 to 1996 he was a Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and from 1994 to 1995 he served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army.   Montelongo served as Chief of Staff and General Manager of Operations General Management at Fort Bliss, Texas, from 1992 to 1994 and was a Senior Analyst and Associate Professor at the U.S. Military Academy from 1988 to 1991.  He is a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Army, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

·        The President has appointed Cesar Benito Cabrera, of Puerto Rico, to serve as a Member of the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation as a representative of real estate for a term ending on the date of the next annual meeting of the stockholders in 2002.

White House Appointments

Judge Al Gonzalez, White House Legal Counsel
Ruben Barrales, Deputy Assistant to the President, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
Hector Irrastoza, Deputy Assistant to the President
Israel Hernandez, Special Assistant to the President
Carlos Bonilla, Special Assistant to the President
Rebecca Contreras, Associate Director of Boards & Commission
Abel Guerra, Associate Director Office of Public Liaison
Marissa Medrano, Associate Director for Domestic Policy
Lisa Trevino Cummins, Associate Director Faith Based Initiative
Heidi Marquez, Deputy Associate Director, Office of Presidential Personnel
Monica Vegas Kladakis, Deputy Associate Director, Office of Presidential Personnel
Mercedes Viana, Director of Specialty Media, Office of Media Affairs
Leonard Rodriguez, Political Coordinator, Office of Political Affairs
Noela Rodriguez, Press Secretary to the First Lady
Margita Thompson, Press Secretary to Mrs. Cheney
Sonya Medina, Deputy Director of Projects, Office of the First Lady
Mike Garcia,  Special Assistant Scheduling Office of the Vice President
Brian Bravo, Press Assistant to Press Secretary
Lorraine Nisbet, Office of Strategic Affairs
Marissa Munoz, Office of Boards & Commission
Jose Fuentes, Office of Advance for the Vice President