Statement by the Press Secretary

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Announced Today the appointment of Faryar Shirzad as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economic Affairs. He succeeds Mr. John A. Cloud in that position.

Mr. Shirzad comes from the Department of Commerce where he most recently was the Assistant Secretary for Import Administration. Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Mr. Shirzad served as Lead International Trade Policy Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney Transition Team. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Shirzad served as the International Trade Counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Finance Committee, under the then-Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. Prior to his government service, Mr. Shirzad was an international trade attorney for the law firms of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Robins, Kaplan Miller & Ciresi.

Mr. Shirzad earned his law degree from the University of Virginia; a Master's in Public Policy, with a concentration in international trade and finance, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland.