Edmund Moy?s Senate confirmation hearing to become 38th director of the U.S. Mint moved to the fast track July 12, less than two weeks after he was nominated to a five-year term to succeed Henrietta Holsman Fore, who resigned last year to become an undersecretary of State.
Rapid pace of the hearing was tied to other scheduled hearings. Department of the Treasury officials and Moy met with the full Senate Banking committee at 10:30 a.m. in the ornate hearing room at Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Moy, who is 48 years old, is a Wisconsin native who has worked in the both the Bush I and Bush II White House. He currently serves as Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel.
A graduate of Waukesha North High School, Moy received his bachelor?s degree from the University of Wisconsin where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
His wife, Karen, accompanied him as he delivered his testimony.
?To many Americans and me, the United States Mint represents the best of America. I respect its place in our history. I appreciate the beauty and artistry of its coins. I value its role in facilitating commerce, and I have learned about our collective culture through its designs on the Nation?s coinage,? Moy began.
He was a coin collector in his youth, and in a conversation a week before the hearings recalled finding Indian Head cents and Mercury dimes in pocket change and as a cashier in his family restaurant business.
?If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with this committee and Congress on all the policy and legislative issues that will determine the course for American coinage now and in the future,? he declared, knowing that this is a time of transition and change within the Mint culture.
Moy was mindful to mention that the Mint, though an arm of the government, is also a $2 billion a year business.
Looking to the future, Moy sees ?some immediate responsibilities and challenges before me. Implementing the ?Presidential $1 Dollar Coin Act of 2005,? which this committee approved, is a major operational focus for the United States Mint that is well under way.?
A goal of his is ?to work with those who can influence and encourage the greater use and acceptance of dollar coins in American commerce.?
An area of concern is ?the rising cost of metals used in coin production is prompting some needed analysis and consideration of the impact of that trend on all denominations of coins, especially the penny and nickel. Public preferences and priorities on this subject will loom large, and the United States Mint will need to provide technical and manufacturing considerations to Congress, the administration and others who are evaluating the future course of coinage.?
With the hearings complete, the nomination moves to the executive calendar and can be brought up by the majority leader, Sen. Bill Frist, at any time. Where before it was thought an autumn confirmation was likely, it could come in time for a newly minted director Moy to attend the American Numismatic Association convention in Denver this August.
