WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John J. Manfreda as ATF Chief Counsel. Mr. Manfreda has served as ATF's Deputy Chief Counsel since 1996.

In his new position, Mr. Manfreda will be responsible for performing all of the legal services related to firearms, explosives, tobacco, arson, alcohol, and administrative law. As Chief Counsel, he will oversee the preparation and review of proposed legislation, regulations, and executive orders relating to the laws affecting and enforced by the Bureau. His office also makes recommendations to the Department of Justice concerning litigation involving ATF and represents the Bureau in administration proceedings.

As Chief Counsel, Mr. Manfreda is a member of the ATF Executive Staff and is the principal legal advisor for the Director, Deputy Director, and Assistant Directors. He also supervises the counsel field offices, Deputy Chief Counsel and five Associate Chief Counsels.

Mr. Manfreda has been with ATF's

Office of Chief Counsel for well over 28 years. During this period,

he has held various positions of authority starting as a staff attorney

and ending with his most recent appointment as the Chief Counsel, occurring

in March of 1999. He has provided leadership and direction to the entire

Chief Counsel staff, including all regional offices. He provides expert

legal advice to Bureau Headquarters officials responsible for the administration

and enforcement of the laws pertaining to alcohol, tobacco, firearms,

and explosives matters. Noteworthy, Mr. Manfreda was the principle author

of the Distilled /Spirits Revision Act, which revised the taxation and

regulation for the entire distilled spirits industry. Currently, ATF

collects over $7 billion in Federal excise taxes from distilled spirits

products.

Prior to joining ATF, Mr. Manfreda was a law clerk with the Tax Division

of the Department of Justice during the period of 1969 through 1970.

His principle duties centered around doing legal research on specific

tax issues that were presented in cases being litigated.

Mr. Manfreda is a graduate of the American University Law School, where

he obtained his Juris Doctorate degree and was a member of the law review.

In addition, Mr. Manfreda also received a Master's degree in Tax Law

from Georgetown Law School. Mr. Manfreda did his undergraduate study

at the University of Maryland, where he majored in business finance

and economics and received a B.S.B.A degree.

Mr. Manfreda has received numerous awards over his career including

the Presidential Rank Award in 1998. In addition, Mr. Manfreda has attended

numerous management training courses including a 4-week management training

session at the Federal Executive Institute.

Finally, Mr. Manfreda is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and

the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Mr. Manfreda is married

and has three children and two grandchildren.