Opening Statement – Isabel Patelunas, Nominee for
Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis
19 July 2017

Thank you, Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner, and Members of the Committee, for allowing me to
appear before you as the President’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Intelligence and
Analysis (OIA), and for the opportunity to have met with several of you earlier this week. I am honored
to have been nominated for this position by President Trump and with the support of Secretary
Mnuchin, Director of National Intelligence Coats, and Undersecretary for Terrorism Finance and
Intelligence Mandelker.
None of the steps in the journey to this committee room would have been possible without my family.
They have been my unfailing supporters throughout my career. First, my husband of three decades,
Paul, has supported me—and has eaten many meals alone—during the decades of my career. He has
been my steadfast partner in raising our two wonderful sons, Brian and Brandon. Those three men have
been my cheerleaders and my conscience, the reason I work so hard to protect our great nation, and the
ones who helped me to balance being both a hard-charging public servant and a sports and band mom.
My mom, Carol Keenan, was a role model as a working mother and has ensured that I always took care
of myself. My father, Thomas Keenan, started me on the road to public service. Although he lost a
hard-fought battle with cancer over a decade ago, I feel his strong presence every day in his
commitment to his country as an Air Force staff sergeant in Korea, followed by a 45 year career as a
beloved high school social studies teacher. He is indeed smiling today.
My brothers, Kevin and Sean, have always supported me personally and professionally. Sean’s
wonderful wife Beth and their three children Ryan, Victoria, and Andrew are here as well. My sister,
Chris, also a teacher, and her wonderful husband, John and four children were unable to attend today. I
also want to thank my friends and co-workers who have been so supportive during my career.
The Keenan and Patelunas families have a profound love of God, country, and family, and have never
been embarrassed by our patriotism and dedication to public service. This started with my grandfather,
who served in the US Army and Navy and as a policeman in Philadelphia; my father, uncles, father-in-law
and brother, Sean, and my nephew Danny all served in the military. My mother, father, sister, and
brother have spent many years in public education.
If confirmed as Assistant Secretary, I will continue to strive to be an efficient and effective public servant
— to use tax dollars wisely, to leave a lasting positive impact on those whom I serve and serve with, and
to have a bias and a passion for action in getting the mission done. Finally, I will be devoted to
developing a strong and expert workforce, and to taking actions that leave the job to my successor in
even better shape than I received it.
Twenty-eight years as an intelligence analyst and manager, including providing high-level policy support,
have prepared me well to lead OIA in its important mission, one in which we cannot fail: stemming the
flow of funding to those who wish to do our nation harm, and remaining vigilant to threats to our

financial infrastructure. The threats are many, but the dedicated women and men of OIA are more than
up to the challenges.
OIA, because of its position within Treasury and access to expertise and information, has been a leader
on the threat finance issue. Its analysts provide all-source analytic support for Treasury and nationallevel actions. I feel that the Office’s work is becoming even more important, as the USG is directing
more effort to take financial action against those who wish to do us harm. OIA leaders and its workforce
are proud of their high standard of analytic tradecraft, and work hard to meet the highest standards for
quality, timeliness, and impact of their products.


And indeed, OIA’s hard work has impact. The office’s expertise and analytic support inform
efforts to disrupt the finances of terrorist groups such as ISIS, of North Korea proliferation and
regime finance networks, and of Mexican transnational criminal networks. OIA’s efforts also
support targeting of financial institutions that threaten the US financial system.

OIA has other important missions that strengthen its leadership in the area of threat finance.



It is very serious about information sharing, and focuses on relationship-building, partnership,
and integration.
OIA has an important mission to ensure that its people, infrastructure, and data are secure and
to protect them from insider threats.

If confirmed, I will use my expertise, leadership, and strong analytic tradecraft to continue to position
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis to stem current threats as well as to take on the threats of the
future. I am committed to being an effective public servant, having a bias for collaborative action—
working with colleagues throughout the USG, including this committee—and ultimately leaving OIA
even stronger than it is today.
Thank you again for your time. I look forward to answering your questions.