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WASHINGTON -- The Senate for the first time has unanimously
confirmed an openly gay presidential appointee.
 
Bruce Lehman, 48, a former counsel to the House Judiciary
Committee, was approved Thursday night without objection as
an assistant secretary of commerce and commissioner of
patents and trademarks.
 
A native of Beloit, Wis., Lehman, has been a partner in the
Washington, D.C., law firm of Swidler & Berlin since 1983.
He joined the Commerce Department in May as special assistant
to Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown.