President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions

WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve in key roles:

• Brian Bryant, to be a Member of the President’s Export Council
• Shawn P. Fain, to be a Member of the President’s Export Council
• Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
• Ronald S. Moultrie, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
• Calvin Smyre, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
• John F. Cordisco, to be a Member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

President’s Export Council

The President’s Export Council serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The Council advises the President of government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance; promotes export expansion; and provides a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial, agricultural, labor, and government sectors.

Brian Bryant, to be a Member of the President’s Export Council

Brian Bryant has been active in the labor movement for nearly 35 years, initiating into the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in 1989 when he joined Local Lodge S6 while employed at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. He became the IAM’s 15th International President on January 1, 2024. A pipefitter by trade, Bryant became active in his Local Lodge serving on various committees, as well as being elected as a Shop Steward, Trustee, and President of Local Lodge S6. He also served on the Executive Board of the Maine AFL-CIO, and in 1998 was elected Directing Business Representative of District Lodge 4.

In 2004, Bryant was appointed as a Special Representative in the Eastern Territory. He was appointed Grand Lodge Representative in 2006 assigned to the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts as well as shipbuilding and repair in the Eastern Territory. In 2008, Bryant was reassigned to the Eastern Territory office in Cincinnati to handle all National Labor Relations Board activity for the territory. On July 1, 2009, he was appointed to the position of Chief of Staff of the Eastern Territory.

Bryant served in that capacity until being appointed to the IAM Executive Council as General Vice President assigned to the Eastern Territory on July 1, 2016. On August 1, 2016, Bryant began as General Vice President serving in the General Secretary-Treasurer’s office until becoming Headquarters General Vice President then becoming the IAM’s 15th International President. Bryant and his wife, Kellie, have a daughter, Addison, and son, Samuel.

Shawn P. Fain, to be a Member of the President’s Export Council

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn P. Fain is a 29-year member of the UAW. Hailing from a family of UAW members, Fain got his start with the union in 1994 as an electrician for Chrysler at Kokomo Casting Plant in his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana. Two of his grandparents were UAW GM retirees and one grandfather started at Chrysler in 1937, the year the workers joined the union.

Fain served his local at every level from Education & Bylaws Chair to CAP Chair, to being elected to five terms as a Skilled Trades Committeeman, and Plant Shop Chairman for Local 1166. In 2007, Fain was anti-ratification due to the agreement implementing tiers and cutting workers’ wages in half. He also stood against plant idling, plant closures, and other dividing issues that workers have faced in the past 20 plus years. He was a UAW Negotiator in 2009, during the Chrysler Bankruptcy, and was elected again as negotiator in 2011. He became an International Representative of the UAW in 2012, where he continued to fight for a better standard of living for all UAW members. In 2015, he chaired the International Skilled Trades Sub-committee.

The membership elected Fain to the office of UAW President in the first-ever direct election for the International Executive Board and he was sworn in as President on March 26, 2023. Fain led the UAW in its historic Stand Up Strike and subsequent Stand Up Movement to organize the entire auto industry and move the working class to action.

President’s Intelligence Advisory Board

The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board is an independent element within the Executive Office of the President. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board exists exclusively to assist the President by providing the President with an independent source of advice on the effectiveness with which the intelligence community is meeting the nation’s intelligence needs and the vigor and insight with which the community plans for the future. The President is able to appoint up to 16 members of the Board.

Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar is the tenth President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a global research institution with operations in the U.S., Asia, the Middle East, and Europe created by Andrew Carnegie in 1910 to support diplomacy and advise policymakers on international conflict and cooperation. A former justice of the Supreme Court of California, Cuéllar has served three U.S. presidential administrations at the White House and in federal agencies, and was the Stanley Morrison Professor at Stanford University, where he held appointments in law, political science, and international affairs. At Stanford, he also led the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the University’s hub for research and education on international affairs, and earlier, its Center for International Security and Cooperation. His books and articles focus on problems in American public law and democracy since the U.S. became a global power, how fast-evolving technologies like artificial intelligence affect public institutions, and how countries respond to emerging risks and cross-border challenges such as controlling illicit financial activity and protecting public health. He chairs the board of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, serves on the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Raised in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, Cuéllar graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, and received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford.

Ronald S. Moultrie, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board

Ronald S. Moultrie served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security for the Biden-Harris Administration from June 2021 through February 2024. He was a member of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team focused on national security. Moultrie also served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, was the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Director of Operations, served as a member of Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Senior Intelligence Service, and in the U.S. Air Force. Moultrie was a key principal on the Secretary of the Navy’s Cybersecurity Readiness Review and subsequently led the creation of the Department’s digital roadmap focused on cybersecurity, data, and emerging technologies such as AI, 5G, and Quantum computing.

Moultrie’s numerous awards include the Presidential Rank Award, the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, two Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, two National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medals, the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, the CIA National Clandestine Service’s Donovan Award, the National Reconnaissance Office’s Gold Medal, three NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Awards, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. Moultrie earned a Master of Science degree from the National Intelligence University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, magna cum laude.

Calvin Smyre, to be a Member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board

Calvin Smyre served for 48 years as an elected State Representative in the Georgia General Assembly. He was the “Dean” of the House and served as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He is President Emeritus of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and a former member of the National Conference of State Legislators. Smyre’s distinguished record includes legislation making Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a state holiday, creating the Georgia Dome, establishing the GA HOPE Scholarship Program, creating a new Georgia state flag, the GA Hate Crime Act of 2020, and the repeal of the 1863 Citizens Arrest Law. In 1986 he was appointed the Governor’s Administrative Floor Leader and in 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, becoming the first African American to hold both positions.

In 2023, Smyre was nominated by President Biden and appointed by the U.S. Department of State to serve as Representative of the United States to the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Congressional Black Caucus’ prestigious Phoenix Award, being named twice as “Citizen of the Year” in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, and he has been inducted into Georgia Trend Magazine’s Business Hall of Fame. Smyre served on the Boards of Columbus Museum, Columbus RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Fort Valley State University Foundation as its Chair. In the private sector, he retired in 2014 as Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Synovus Financial Corporation and President of Synovus Foundation. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Fort Valley State University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Morehouse School of Medicine. Smyre is a lifelong native of Columbus, Georgia and a member of Greater Ward Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He has one deceased daughter and two grandchildren.

United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

The United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad was established in 1985 to ensure that sites important to populations impacted by Nazism, communism, and the Cold War would be preserved for future generations. The Commission’s mission is to identify, protect, and preserve cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with U.S. heritage. The work recognizes that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants and their descendants, and that the United States has an interest in the preservation of sites in other countries related to the heritage of these Americans.

John F. Cordisco, to be a Member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

John F. Cordisco began practicing law in 1987 and has spent the last 37 years representing victim’s rights. He is currently a partner at the law firm of Cordisco & Saile located in Trevose, Pennsylvania. At the age of 24, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He served three terms and was credited for legislation establishing the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans’ Commission, which is still active today assisting veterans exposed to Agent Orange, as well as the construction of a third Veterans’ Home located in southeastern Pennsylvania. For his efforts, Cordisco has been recognized by several Veterans’ Groups, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and The National Vietnam Veterans’ Organization.

Since leaving the legislature, Cordisco has chaired and served on several state and local boards and agencies including the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, Bucks County Community College Authority, and the Pennsylvania Joint Toll Commission. Beyond politics and law, Cordisco’s humanitarian efforts include the creation of Have a Heart, a charity responsible for financing summer programs and two accessible playgrounds in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Cordisco has partnered with charities responsible for the construction of infrastructure, schools, orphanages, feeding centers, and housing throughout Central America. He graduated from Rider University with a B.A. and subsequently earned his J.D. from Temple School of Law. Cordisco is the father of three children and six grandchildren. He currently resides in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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