President Bush Names Mel Sembler as Exim Bank Chief

President Bush has named Melvin Sembler to be President of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance U.S. export sales primarily to emerging market countries by providing loans, guarantees and insurance. The bank supported $15,500 million in U.S. exports last year.

A long-time Republican party activist and fundraiser, Sembler was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to be U.S. ambassador to Australia, where he served from 1989 to 1993. He is at present the National Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee.

Sembler is the owner and chairman of the board of the Sembler Company in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Sembler Company is a highly successful shopping center development firm, which has developed many shopping centers across the southeast United States.

Sembler has also been a leader in anti-drug programs. He and his wife Betty founded STRAIGHT, a drug rehabitiation program aimed at adolescents. Sembler was also named to President Ronald Reagan's White House Conference for a Drug Free America.

Sembler graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois in 1952.

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