Hirschhorn gets Senate confirmation

   The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Eric L. Hirschhorn’s nomination to be undersecretary of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, a position he has held through a recess appointment by President Obama since April 2, 2010.

Hirschhorn

   Hirschhorn is highly regarded among U.S. export interests for the work that he and Kevin J. Wolf, Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration, have done to steer reform the nation’s Cold War-era export control regulations.
   “Eric’s experience and drive will be critical to this administration’s efforts to reform America’s Cold War-era export control laws, strengthening U.S. national security and increasing the competitiveness of U.S. companies,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, in a statement.
   Prior to joining Commerce, Hirschhorn was a partner at the Washington office of law firm Winston & Strawn. In addition to his extensive private sector experience, he served from 1980 to 1981 as Commerce’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration. Hirschhorn is also the former executive secretary of the Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer (ICOTT), a group whose trade association and industry participants are affected by U.S. export control and embargo rules.
   He is the author of The Export Control and Embargo Handbook, whose third edition was published recently by Oxford University Press, and numerous articles on export controls, embargoes and related topics.