Israel Hernandez was nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 3, 2005, as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service. The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service was created by Congress to assist small and medium-sized American businesses to export and to protect the business interests of American companies overseas.

In this capacity, Mr. Hernandez is accountable to Congress for a number of mission-critical programs and initiatives. As the single point of contact in the U.S. government for trade promotion and business advocacy assistance, Mr. Hernandez oversees a global operation of more than 1,700 employees—both American and in-country staff—operating in 47 states and 80 countries.

Mr. Hernandez also works to improve the reach and exposure of the Commercial Service throughout the business community at the state and local levels.

Prior to his confirmation, Mr. Hernandez served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Carlos Gutierrez, and to the Acting Under Secretary for International Trade. He assisted and advised Secretary Gutierrez on a wide range of domestic and international issues.

Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Mr. Hernandez served as Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush and as a deputy to Senior Advisor Karl Rove. He assisted Mr. Rove in overseeing the strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs efforts of the White House during the President’s first term.

During the last presidential campaign, Mr. Hernandez served as the liaison between the White House and the Bush-Cheney ’04 re-election campaign, helping to develop the strategy, implementation, and execution of President Bush’s priorities at the White House.

Mr. Hernandez has worked for President Bush in several capacities over the past eleven years. Mr. Hernandez was Director of Voter Contact in the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign. He also served as personal aide to then-Governor George W. Bush in Texas during his first term and as personal aide, when George Bush announced his candidacy for Governor of Texas against then-sitting Governor Ann Richards.

Israel Hernandez received a B.A. degree with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science in 1992 from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.P.A. from the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University in 1999.