Chairman Risch Statement on Nominations

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today made the following statement regarding nominations:

“There are a number of vital positions that are waiting to be filled at the State Department. Today our committee had the opportunity to hear from three very qualified nominees who will bring a wealth of expertise to the positions for which they are nominated, and we badly need their leadership at this time.

“To correct the record, we have engaged in lengthy and ongoing conversations this Congress regarding how we can make progress with the current backlog of 61 nominations that are awaiting action in our committee. It’s past time to move these nominees forward to be confirmed by the full Senate.

“I look forward to working in a cooperative way with the ranking member and the members of our committee to move the nominations in our committee expeditiously. It is my intention that a number of these nominations be voted out of our committee at a business meeting in the coming days, and after the remarks made earlier today, I expect the ranking member will support that effort.”

###