The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has urged the U.S. Senate to confirm Mira Ricardel as Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security.
Ricardel’s confirmation would create more jobs in the aerospace and defense trade, AIA said, and would encourage companies to “sell American.”
Ricardel has worked in security in both the public and private sector and currently works as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Presidential Personnel. She has previously worked for the Department of Defense, Boeing Defense Space and Security, and Legislative Assistant for Arms Control and Foreign Policy to retired Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS).
Ricardel was nominated by President Donald Trump in November.
The aerospace industry employs 13 percent of the American manufacturing workforce and contributed $81.6 billion in trade in 2015.