On July 28, 2009, the following nominations were reported out of committee by Senator Kerry of the Committee on Foreign Relations. These nominees are mostly for African posts (non-controversial and all that), so I expect that majority of these would get confirmation before the Senate breaks on August 7 for the summer.
Also, I have not heard of any Senator complained about human rights in Saudi Arabia so General James Smith’s nomination is probably safe from that Senate hold and jam that has currently snared NEA-boss designate, Jeffrey Feltman (for an entirely different reason). Um, don’t worry Senator Sam Brownback and 20 of his Senate friends are too busy working on banning mermaids and centaurs right now (S.1435, I kid you not!). Still, it might get a little tricky for the two WHA nominees (Honduras and ethanol issues if I remember right) … so we’ll be watching how this develops…
Arturo A. Valenzuela, of the District ofColumbia, to be an Assistant Secretary ofState (Western Hemisphere Affairs), viceThomas A. Shannon, Jr., resigned.
Thomas Alfred Shannon, Jr., of Virginia, aCareer Member of the Senior ForeignService, Class of Career Minister, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Patricia A. Butenis, of Virginia, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Minister-Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the DemocraticSocialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and to serveconcurrently and without additionalcompensation as Ambassador Extraordinaryand Plenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Republic of Maldives.
Charles Aaron Ray, of Maryland, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Minister-Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Republic ofZimbabwe.
Gayleatha Beatrice Brown, of New Jersey, aCareer Member of the Senior ForeignService, Class of Minister-Counselor, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to Burkina Faso.
Earl Michael Irving, of California, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Kingdom ofSwaziland.
Pamela Jo Howell Slutz, of Texas, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Minister-Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Republic ofBurundi.
Patricia Newton Moller, of Arkansas, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Minister-Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Republic ofGuinea.
Jerry P. Lanier, of North Carolina, a CareerMember of the Senior Foreign Service, Classof Counselor, to be AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Republic ofUganda.
Alfonso E. Lenhardt, of New York, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the United Republic of Tanzania.
Samuel Louis Kaplan, of Minnesota, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Kingdom of Morocco.
James B. Smith, of New Hampshire, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Miguel Humberto Diaz, of Minnesota, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Holy See
Fay Hartog-Levin, of Illinois, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Stephen J. Rapp, of Iowa, to be Ambassador atLarge for War Crimes Issues, vice John ClintWilliamson, resigned.
Donald Henry Gips, of Colorado, to beAmbassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States ofAmerica to the Republic of South Africa.
