Confirmed Nominations: August 7

Arturo Valenzuela (Photo from OAS) The following civilian Executive Nominations for the State Department were confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009. Nominations flagged with an asterisk were approved subject to the nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

It looks like two nominees could not beat the summer rush. You will note that Arturo A. Valenzuela, the nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Thomas Alfred Shannon, Jr., the nominee to be US Ambassador to Brazil (who also preceded Mr. Valenzuela at WHA) are not on this list. I thought these two might get snared on either ethanol or Honduras.

During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Shannon was asked whether it was his view that both the United States and Brazil would benefit from the United States removing its tariff on imported ethanol. Mr. Shannon stated that it was his belief that such an action would indeed be “beneficial.” That did not make Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa happy at all. So he put a hold on Mr. Shannon’s nomination while he search for confirmation from the Administration on the US position on removal of tariff on imported ethanol. He got a quick response from USTR Ron Kirk and Secretary Clinton. In their letter, Kirk and Clinton wrote, “The Obama Administration is committed to developing our domestic biofuels industry in order to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports and increase our use of renewable energy resources. There has been no change of policy with respect to the U.S. import surcharge of $0.54 per gallon on ethanol. The Administration has no plans to seek changes to the import surcharge.”

So Senator Grassley lifted his hold on Mr. Shannon, but it now looks like Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has put a hold on these two nominees.

Senator DeMint placed a hold these two nominations briefly at the SFRC in July. Liz Harper reports that according to DeMint’s office the nominations would again be held over. Why? Apparently “to again express dissatisfaction with the administration’s handling of Honduras.” Oh, joy!

The Senate is now on summer break; it will resume business on Tuesday, September 8.

CONFIRMED NOMINATIONS

PN317 * STATE-NEAR EAST ASIA BUREAU (NEA) Jeffrey D. Feltman, of Ohio, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs).

PN485 * STATE- EEB BUREAU Philip L. Verveer, of the District of Columbia, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Communications and Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs and U. S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy.

PN553 * TO MEXICO Carlos Pascual, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Mexico.

PN562 * STATE-DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS Maria Otero, of the District of Columbia, to be an Under Secretary of State (Democracy and Global Affairs).

PN580 * STATE-AFRICAN UNION Michael Anthony Battle, Sr., of Georgia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the African Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

PN582 * TO THE MARSHALL ISLANDS Martha Larzelere Campbell, of Michigan, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

PN641 * TO GEORGIA John R. Bass, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Georgia.

PN642 * TO UNFAO Ertharin Cousin, of Illinois, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as U. S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

PN643 * TO CROATIA James B. Foley, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Croatia.

PN644 * TO TAJIKISTAN Kenneth E. Gross, Jr., of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Tajikistan.

PN646 * TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA, VANUATO, SOLOMON ISLANDS Teddy Bernard Taylor, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Papua New Guinea, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Solomon Islands and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Vanuatu.

PN651 * TO JAPAN John Victor Roos, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan.

PN672 * TO LATVIA Judith Gail Garber, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Latvia.

PN673 * TO STATE-OES BUREAU Kerri-Ann Jones, of Maine, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

PN675 * TO UNESCO David Killion, of the District of Columbia, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

PN676 * TO BENIN James Knight, of Alabama, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Benin.

PN677 * TO OECD Karen Kornbluh, of New York, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN678 * TO FINLAND Bruce J. Oreck, of Colorado, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Finland.

PN695 * TO CHINA Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People's Republic of China.

PN696 * TO MALTA Douglas W. Kmiec, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Malta.

PN698 * TO MONGOLIA Jonathan S. Addleton, of Georgia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Mongolia.

PN706 * TO SWEDEN Matthew Winthrop Barzun, of Kentucky, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Sweden.

PN707 * TO AUSTRIA William Carlton Eacho, III, of Maryland, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria.

PN728 * TO GERMANY Philip D. Murphy, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Germany.

PN740 * TO UNVIE Glyn T. Davies, of the District of Columbia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN741 * TO IAEA Glyn T. Davies, of the District of Columbia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Representative of the United States of America to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN761 * TO PEACE CORPS Aaron S. Williams, of Virginia, to be Director of the Peace Corps.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - August 07, 2009) [Page: S9096] GPO's PDF [Page: S9097] GPO's PDF