US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged members of the Senate to accelerate the process of confirming ambassadorial nominations, including to India, before the end of the year, State Department official has said.
"The Secretary has been in continued contact with his former colleagues on Capitol Hill about this. It's very important to him. He needs to have his team and he also feels it's important that these non-controversial nominees be confirmed before Thanksgiving as well. It's the right thing to do for them, for their families, and for America's interests," the State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said yesterday.
Among the pending ambassadorial nominations are that of Richard Verma whom President Barack Obama has nominated for US Ambassador to India.
There are 55 State Department nominees waiting, 30 of whom are career Foreign Service officers, he said.
"The vast majority of these remaining nominees could be confirmed quickly en bloc. We will look forward to continuing to working with the Senate to get this done.
"The Secretary has always said there are great public servants up there in the Senate, and he knows that none of them want to see this gridlock continues at the expense of career Foreign Service professionals," Rathke said.
"We are making some headway and we're grateful for that," he said adding that a day earlier the Senate confirmed five more ambassadors, all career diplomats, including Marcia Bernicat to Bangladesh, Leslie Bassett to Paraguay, James Zumwalt to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, Craig Allen to Brunei, and William Roebuck to Bahrain.
However, one of the most important positions for the State Department that is yet to be confirmed, he said.
"Ambassador Arnold Chacon is our nominee for director general of the Foreign Service and director of human resources," Rathke said.
Chacon would be responsible for strengthening our workforce and the Foreign Service through professional development and recruitment and increasing diversity, as well as for the welfare of our people here and those staffing some of the highest-risk posts across the world, he said.
"He is greatly qualified to do so, serving in the Foreign Service since 1983, over 30 years. And he's served in Western Hemisphere posts and here in Washington.
"He is a real star. He also happens to be the first Hispanic ever elevated to this position, which is important particularly for a Secretary who wants a State Department that reflects all of our country. This matters for many reasons. Let's get Ambassador Chacon confirmed," Rathke said.
