Officially In: Don Beyer to Bern and Lichtenstein

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On June 11, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Don Beyer to be Ambassador to Switzerland and the Principality of Lichtenstein. Official bio released by the WH below:

Mr. Beyer was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1989 and served until 1998. In that capacity, he presided over the Virginia Senate, earning the reputation as the most activist President of the Senate in Virginia history. He chaired the Economic Recovery Commission, the Virginia Commission on Sexual Assault, the Virginia Commission on Disabilities, the Poverty Commission and was co-founder of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Mr. Beyer has served on the Virginia Board of First Union National Bank and the board of Shenandoah Life Insurance Company. He is currently on the board of Lightly Expressed, a fiber optic lighting design and manufacturing firm. An experienced and successful businessman, he has grown his family’s chain of automobile dealerships and serves on the Volvo International Product Development team. Mr. Beyer is a member of the Northern Virginia Business Roundtable and the Northern Virginia High Tech Council, which he co-founded. He currently serves on the boards of Youth for Tomorrow, the Washington Community Foundation, and the Red Cross.


Mr. Beyer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College, magna cum laude with Highest Honors in Economics in 1972.



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OpenSecrets.org of the Center for Responsive Politics has named Don Beyer one of President O’s bundlers who has raised a minimum of $500,000. [Bundlers are people with friends in high places who, after bumping against personal contribution limits, turn to those friends, associates, and, well, anyone who's willing to give, and deliver the checks to the candidate in one big "bundle."]

If confirmed, Mr. Beyer would replaced Peter R. Coneway of Texas, a political appointee who was US Ambassador to Switzerland (also accredited to Liechtenstein) during Bush's second term. You have to go back all the way to 1979 to find a career foreign service officer assigned as US Ambassador to this post.

Related Items: (additional items added from OpenSecrets.org on 6/19/09)

• President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 6-11-09
  
• OpenSecrets.org from Center for Responsive Politics: Obama_ambassador_Data_090612.xls (Excel file)
  
• Obama's New Ambassador Nominees Gave Big -- and Bundled Bigger