i wish you begin, mr. eisen and feel free to introduce family and friends who are here with you. >> madam chair, senator lugar, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here again in connection with my nomination by president obama to continue serving as the united states ambassador to the czech republic. i am honored to have the confidence rand the trust of the president, of secretary clinton in representing our country. since you asked, i would like to introduce my wife, lindsey kaplan, an associate professor of english at georgetown university, and our daughter, tamar. and representing the united states in prague is a family effort. and i believe the czech people have come to appreciate my family as much as i do. well, almost as much as i do. when i was last before the committee, i reflected upon my extraordinary good fortune as a first generation american from the vantagepoint of our small fast food restaurant in los angeles where i grew up. my mother, a czech, czech holocaust survivor a

i am honored to be here to introduce mr. eisen. this is not a political duty. it is a personal pleasure because ambassador eisen and his wife are personal friends of mine and my family. the reason -- one of those stateless people who lived in washington d.c. so i do double duty by introducing such people. as you mentioned, ambassador eisen was nominated and given a recess appointment at the end of last year but prior to his nomination he had a distinguished career as a lawyer in washington and special counsel for ethics and governmental reform in the white house. i regret it was necessary for the president to make a recess appointment but perhaps there's a silver lining here in that we can now judge ambassador eisen based on his performance over the last six months and from all i have heard has really been exemplary. since arriving in prague ambassador eisen has been a whirlwind of activity winning audits from everyone from the czech government to the american chamber of commerce whose leader has said, quote, in the short time in the country you have made a sign

i will ask you to begin, mr. eisen. >> madam chair, as you noted, the czech republic is one of our closest allies in the region and in the world, and an ambassador was needed after a hiatus to work on critical issues like afghanistan, iran, israel, and the potential $27.5 billion civil nuclear export opportunity where thousands of u.s. jobs. it is my understanding that my nomination was held over concerns about a personnel matter held over my office when i was in the white house. we attempted to resolve those concerns, but were not able to do so, and given the important security and economic issues on which we work with the check, the president determined a research appointment was appropriate and necessary. since my arrival in prague, we have made strong progress on all of those issues -- afghanistan, iran, israel, the nuclear contract, and many other areas. those remain as vital as ever. i believe that progress -- the energy that not only i have put in, but the entire team have put in, and the good work that we have

appointment and why you believe the senate should confirm me this year and i'll ask you to begin, mr. eisen. >> madam chair, as you noted, the czechs are some of our closest allies in the world and ambassador was needed after a hiatus to work on critical issues like afghanistan, iran, israel and the potential $27.5 billion nuclear export opportunity for thousands of u.s. jobs. it's my understanding that my nomination was held over can parents about a personnel matter handled by my office when they were in the white house. we attempted to resolve those concerns, but were unable to do so in given the important security and economic issues on which we work with the czechs, the president determined that a recess appointment was appropriate and indeed necessary since my arrival and probably have made strong progress on all those issues come afghanistan, iran and israel, nuclear contract in many other important areas in the relationship. those remain as vital as ever and i believe that progress, the energy that not only i have put in, but the entire embassy team in crowd together have put an end

senator lieberman, we are delighted to have you here to introduce mr. eisen. >> thank you. it is a pleasure to be here. i should express my appreciation to you on behalf of the nominee is that you did not join the herd leaving washington after the vote at noon. thank you for convening this hearing. i am here to introduce ambassador eisen. i would be remiss if i did not say i have gotten the chance to know them, and these are two extraordinary public servants, very courageous and informed representatives in which the countries they have served and are serving. i am honored to be here to introduce norm eisen. this is not a political duty but a personal pleasure. ambassador eisen, his wife, and daughter, are personal friends of mine. as you mentioned, the reason i was asked is because at norman is one of those faceless peopel that lives in d.c. ambassador eisen was nominated and was given a recess appointment. prior to his nomination, he had a distinguished career as a lawyer in washington and was special counsel for ethics and governmental reform. i regret it was necessary fo

i'll ask you if you could begin, mr. eisen, and, again feel free to introduce family and friends who are here with you. >> madam chair, senator lugar, senator coons, member of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here again in connection with my nomination by president obama to continue serving as the united states ambassador to the czech republic. i am honored to have the confidence and trust of the president, of secretary clinton in representing our country. since you asked, i would like to introduce my wife, lindsay, associate professor of english at georgetown university, and our daughter, tomar, and representing the united states in prague is a family effort, and i believe the czech people have come to appreciate my family as much as i do. well, almost as much as i do. when i was last before the committee, i reflected upon my extraordinary good four chan as -- fortune as a first generation american from the vantage point of our small fast food restaurant in los angeles where i grew up. my mother was a czech