C. Richard D'Amato

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C. Richard D'Amato was reappointed to the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on October 5, 2005, for a two-year term expiring December 31, 2007. He served as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Commission beginning in April 2001 through December 20, 2005. He is an attorney, and a member of the Maryland and D.C. bars. He is a former delegate to the General Assembly of the State of Maryland, (1998-2002), representing the Annapolis, Maryland, region, and served on the Appropriations Committee. He is also a retired captain in the United States Navy Reserve, served two tours of duty in the Vietnam theatre aboard the USS KING (DLG-10), and three years as an Assistant Professor of Government at the U.S. Naval Academy. He served on the Trade Deficit Review Commission, a Congressional advisory body, as a member from 1999-2000.

From 1988-98, Commissioner D’Amato was the Democratic Counsel for the Committee on Appropriations of the United States Senate. He was responsible for coordinating and managing the annual appropriations bills and other legislation on policy and funding of U.S. defense, foreign policy, trade and intelligence matters. He served from 1980-88 as senior foreign policy and defense advisor to the Democratic Senate leader, Senator Robert C. Byrd. In this position, he supervised work on major foreign policy, national security and trade policies, and was the co-director for the Senate Arms Control Observer Group, a bipartisan leadership organization, which served as liaison with the White House on all arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. He also served on the Senate delegation to the Kyoto negotiations on Global Warming.

Mr. D’Amato began his career as Legislative Director for Congressman James Jeffords (Ind.-VT) from 1975-78, and then as Chief of Staff for Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT) until 1980.

He has been active in other aspects of public service, having founded the annual Taste-of-the- Nation dinners in Annapolis as part of the nationwide “Share Our Strength” hunger relief organization, and created an annual scholarship for college bound African-American women in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He currently serves on the boards of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Annapolis Maritime Museum, The Johns Hopkins Cuba Exchange Program, and the University of Oxford Congressional Visitors program.

Commissioner D’Amato received his B.A. (cum laude) from Cornell University in 1964, and served on the Cornell Board of Trustee's Advisory Council. He received his M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston in 1967, and received his legal education from Harvard Law School and from the Georgetown University Law Center (JD, 1980). He resides in Annapolis with his wife, Dee.