{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schatz-chairs-foreign-relations-committee-nominations-hearing-urges-swift-confirmation-of-american-diplomats", "Schatz Chairs Foreign Relations Committee Nominations Hearing, Urges Swift Confirmation Of American Diplomats", "2023-11-16", "2023", "2023-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Brian Schatz", "S001194", "www.schatz.senate.gov", "schatz", "https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Brian Schatz today chaired a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to consider six nominees to the U.S. Department of State. The nominees include Jeffrey Prescott to be U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, Charlie Crist to be U.S. Representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Sean Patrick Maloney to be U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Cardell Kenneth Richardson, Sr., to be Inspector General for the Department of State, Nicole Shampaine to be Ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and Joann Lockard to be Ambassador to Burkina Faso.\n\n\u201cThere are few responsibilities as important as confirming nominees to represent the United States on matters of foreign policy and national security,\u201d said Senator Schatz. \u201cThat is especially true given the backlog of nominees that must be confirmed for our government to work at full strength, and to pursue our interests and values around the world.\u201d\n\nThe full text of Senator Schatz\u2019s opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, follows.\n\nWe\u2019re here today to consider six key nominations on two separate panels. I\u2019m honored to serve as chair for this hearing. And I am pleased to be joined by my friend from Tennessee, Senator Hagerty.\n\nThere are few responsibilities as important as confirming nominees to represent the United States on matters of foreign policy and national security.\n\nThat is especially true given the backlog of nominees that must be confirmed for our government to work at full strength, and to pursue our interests and values around the world. Currently, there are 36 nominees on the floor who are awaiting confirmation, and another 20 pending in committee. I cannot overstate how important it is to get these vacancies filled as soon as possible.\n\nOur first panel will consider the nominations of:\n\nMr. Jeffrey Prescott to be the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture;\n\nThe Honorable Charlie Crist to be the U.S. Representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization; and\n\nThe Honorable Sean Patrick Maloney, to be the U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.\n\nCongratulations to all of you\u2026you are all eminently qualified for the positions for which you have been nominated. And we thank you for your service and your willingness to continue to serve at this challenging time.\n\nWe also thank your families, who in many ways, serve as well. When you have an opportunity to address the committee momentarily for your opening statements, we\u2019d welcome you to introduce them.\n\nFirst on the panel is Mr. Jeffrey Prescott, who, if confirmed, will serve as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, with the rank of Ambassador. Mr. Prescott currently serves as deputy to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He previously served as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf States on the National Security Council during the Obama Administration. He also served as then-Vice President Biden\u2019s deputy national security advisor and his senior advisor for China and Asia.\n\nThe U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture is a critical position. The global hunger crisis is getting worse, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic. With over 700 million people around the world facing chronic hunger, it\u2019s clear we have a lot of work to do to reach the Second UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending global hunger by 2030. And we need this vacancy to be filled for the United States to remain a leader in the global fight to end hunger.\n\nMr. Prescott is well qualified for this position, and I have here, a letter from members of his White House fellows\u2019 class, supporting his nomination. Without objection, I\u2019d like to enter this letter into the record.\n\nNext, we have the Honorable Charlie Crist, who has a wealth of public service experience, including serving as Florida\u2019s 44th Governor, and as the state\u2019s Attorney General and Education Commissioner. He most recently served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida\u2019s 13th district from 2016-2022. If confirmed, Mr. Crist will serve as the U.S. Representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, with the rank of Ambassador.\n\nICAO covers a wide range of issues necessary to facilitating safe air travel around the world, including setting global standards for navigation, communication, and airline safety, mapping out airspace jurisdiction, and establishing \u201cfree range\u201d airspace over oceans and seas.\n\nWe also have Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney, who has spent much of his life devoted to public service, most recently representing the 18th district of New York. If confirmed, he will serve as the U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, with rank of Ambassador.\n\nThe OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 37 democracies with market-based economies collaborate to develop policy standards to promote sustainable economic growth. OECD member countries account for three-fifths of world GDP, three-quarters of world trade, over 90 percent of global official development assistance, and half of the world\u2019s energy consumption. We must fill this vacancy so we can more effectively advance shared values and interests with OECD allies and partners.\n\nThe positions for which you all have been nominated are highly important, each requiring extensive skills and experience. Once again, I thank you for your willingness to serve, and now yield to my colleague, Senator Hagerty.\n\nWe now will consider another set of important nominations:\n\nMr. Cardell Kenneth Richardson, Sr. to be the inspector general for the Department of State;\n\nMs. Nicole Shampaine to be Ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; and\n\nMs. Joann Lockard to be Ambassador to Burkina Faso.\n\nCongratulations to each one of you. You are all extremely qualified for the positions for which you have been nominated and will meaningfully promote U.S. foreign policy and national security interests in your respective roles, if confirmed. We thank you for your service and your continued willingness to serve. Public service asks a lot of family members too, and so I\u2019d welcome you to introduce your family members when you have an opportunity to address the committee.\n\nFirst on the panel is Mr. Richardson, who currently serves as the Inspector General of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he provides independent oversight and objective assessments of agency programs and operations. He is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, having served 26 years on active duty. Mr. Richardson has been honored twice with the Presidential Rank Award for his service.\n\nNext, we have Ms. Nicole Shampaine \u2013 a career member of the Senior Foreign Service who currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. She previously served as Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires ad interim to the U.S. Mission in the Vienna Office of the United Nations and at the International Atomic Energy Agency, among other postings.\n\nMs. Shampaine is nominated to represent our nation at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, where she would support global efforts to permanently eliminate chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention.\n\nWe also have Ms. Joann Lockard, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, most recently serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Ms. Lockard\u2019s assignments also have included serving as the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassies in Uganda and Burkina Faso. If confirmed, Ms. Lockard will return to Burkina Faso as ambassador.\n\nBurkina Faso has experienced a coup and a military takeover in just the last year. Over 2 million people were internally displaced as of this past July and an estimated 4.7 million needed humanitarian assistance. It\u2019s a volatile situation to put it mildly\u2026and that makes this role especially challenging. But Ms. Lockard\u2019s deep knowledge of and experience in the region will be vital for U.S. efforts to support regional stability through the promotion of democratic values, respect for human rights, and sustainable economic development.\n\nThe positions that each of you have been nominated for are essential to promoting American values of democracy and equality around the world. Each role requires specific skills and experience that you all bring.\n\nOnce again, I thank you for your continued willingness to serve, and now yield to my colleague, Senator Hagerty.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.schatz.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schatz-chairs-foreign-relations-committee-nominations-hearing-urges-swift-confirmation-of-american-diplomats"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 51.35131906718016, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}