For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 18, 2005

Personnel Announcement

Stephen Hadley, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, announced today the appointment of V. Phillip Lago as Executive Secretary of the National Security Council.

Phil Lago comes to the White House with a distinguished career spanning more than 25 years in the Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency where he held various management and analytical positions. Most recently, Mr. Lago served as the Executive Secretary for the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and was responsible for the DCI's continuity of operations and continuity of government programs. In 2004, Mr. Lago received the prestigious Director's Award from the DCI. He was a member of the DCI's 9/11-response team and served as the DCI's representative to a series of White House working groups on homeland security.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Lago spent a substantial part of his youth traveling the world with his family. Mr. Lago now lives with his wife, Linda, in Vienna, Virginia.

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