Kaye Scholer

Export Controls

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pasco was a founding member of the National Security Council (“NSC”) Task Force on Export Control Reform, which was established by the President to restructure the export control system. He was nominated to the Task Force in 2009 by the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), and directly supported NSC Deputy Secretaries in policy deliberations. The Task Force proposal, which has been approved by the President for implementation, is the most sweeping change to export controls in a generation. Mr. Pasco, who has played a role in every major effort to reform export controls over the past two decades, negotiated National Security Presidential Directives (“NSPD”) 55, on dual-use trade, and 56, on defense trade reform at DHS. He was the staff-level point of contact for NSPD 19, on export control reform, for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. From 2001–2005, Mr. Pasco was at the Pentagon as the Special Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for International Technology Security, with a focus on export controls. He worked for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in Beijing in 1993, advising U.S. exporters during the dismantling of the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls (“CoCom”).

While at DHS, Mr. Pasco managed the office responsible for legal compliance in the Science and Technology Directorate. In that role, he was responsible for compliance for DHS’s $800 million research and development arm, including the full range of regulatory compliance matters inherent to a large, complex research and development organization, and has testified before the U.S. Senate on compliance matters. Mr. Pasco designed, implemented and managed the Directorate’s export control compliance program, and is well positioned to advise clients on challenges related to export compliance.

With regard to Commodity Jurisdiction determinations, DHS reviews all Commodity Jurisdiction determinations under procedures developed pursuant to NSPD 56. Mr. Pasco was the DHS representative on the Deputy Assistant Secretary level interagency panel chaired by the Department of State that adjudicates Commodity Jurisdiction disputes, and can assist clients in navigating the Commodity Jurisdiction process.

Mr. Pasco has served as a DHS Advisor on the U.S. delegation to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Multilateral Export Controls, a Department of Defense Advisor on a U.S. delegation to an United Nations conference on arms controls, and as a member of the faculty on the Practicing Law Institute’s “Coping with Export Controls.”

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”)

As one of the authors of the current CFIUS regulations, Mr. Pasco is one of the leading Exon-Florio experts in the country, and is particularly well positioned to advise clients on all phases of the filing process, managing interagency review of cases, and negotiating mitigation agreements.

Mr. Pasco was the Deputy Director for Finance and Investment Policy at DHS from 2006–2008. In that capacity, following the Dubai Ports matter, he was responsible for Homeland Security’s role in redrafting the statutory and regulatory underpinnings of CFIUS, and has directly managed a large number of cases through the CFIUS process. DHS is by far the largest requestor of mitigation agreements in the CFIUS process, and Mr. Pasco was intimately involved in moving those agreements through the interagency process to resolution.

Mr. Pasco came to DHS from the Department of Defense, where he was Special Assistant to the Deputy General Counsel for International Affairs from 2005–2006. In that role, he worked extensively on CFIUS reform following the Dubai Ports matter, and also on international defense cooperation.

National Industrial Security Program

Mr. Pasco established and co-chaired, with the Director of Security, the DHS Science and Technology Classification Review Panel. This Panel was responsible for organizing the application of Original Classification Authority within DHS Science and Technology. He advised contactors, program managers, and the Under Secretary on matters related to national security classification, and represented DHS at policy discussions with the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives.

Legislative and Governmental Affairs

Full spectrum representation frequently requires advice on legislative strategy, comment on regulatory proposals, consultation with regulatory authorities or their Congressional oversight committees, or help with political strategies. Mr. Pasco can help clients plot a successful course in government relations with his strong background on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch. In addition to five years at DHS and six years at the Pentagon, he has worked for Senator Nancy Kassebaum, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Representative Vince Snowbarger, Dole for President, the Republican National Committee, and the Bush-Cheney Transition Team.