Ranking Member Shaheen Opening Remarks for Nominations Hearing for Key Ambassadorial Positions

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks during a committee hearing on the nominations of Daniel Travis to be Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Nathaniel Morris to be Ambassador to Colombia and Peter McCoy to be Ambassador to Montenegro.

You can watch her opening remarks here.

“Just last week, State Department officials presenting on global health had to apologize [...] after displaying a map that misplaced African countries,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “It was an embarrassing mistake that underscored something that’s very important. If the United States is going to lead on global health security in Africa, we need experienced diplomats with the regional expertise to do it well.”

Ranking Member Shaheen welcomed the nomination of a career diplomat to represent the United States in Sierra Leone — a country on the front lines of global outbreak preparedness.

“I'm pleased that we have a career Foreign Service Officer to represent the United States in a country at the forefront of global outbreak preparedness and disease surveillance,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “Sierra Leone suffered more than 14,000 Ebola cases during the 2014-2016 epidemic. That experience has made it an indispensable partner in preventing the next outbreak before it reaches U.S. shores. We also need to ensure our diplomats have the resources Congress has previously provided. And so, Mr. Travis, if confirmed, I hope you will be a strong voice inside the Department on the importance of these partnerships to both Sierra Leone and America’s health security.”

Ranking Member Shaheen then emphasized the need for a reliable U.S. partnership with Colombia as one of America’s closest security partners in the Western Hemisphere.

“Colombia’s success is critical to stability across a region facing economic turmoil, migration and organized crime,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. “If confirmed, following a year and a half of an often politicized and erratic U.S.-Colombia relationship, I hope you will ensure the U.S. is a reliable partner, cooperating on counternarcotics, investing in economic partnerships and supporting democratic institutions.”

The Ranking Member’s remarks, as delivered, are below.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome to each of our nominees today and to all of your friends and supporters who are here.

I have an opening statement and, as you listen to the beginning of this statement, you’re going to wonder how that’s connected to the portfolio for the job you’ve been nominated for — but believe me, this is an issue that affects all of us.

Global health security is deteriorating and diseases we know how to prevent are resurging: measles outbreaks, mpox, we had a tuberculosis case in New Hampshire this year and the current Ebola outbreak. Infectious diseases do not respect borders. What happens overseas can quickly become an American problem.

That is why there has been bipartisan support for the organization Gavi, one of the world’s most successful public-private partnerships supporting immunization in low and middle-income countries. More than 1 billion children have been immunized. 20 million lives have been saved. And after months of delay, the State Department has finally transmitted a congressional notification to release the funds that Congress appropriated. Recent announcements are encouraging, but congressional notifications are not the same as obligated funds. So far, the State Department’s track record has not inspired confidence.

Just last week, State Department officials presenting on global health had to apologize — and Mr. Travis, you will especially appreciate this — after displaying a map that misplaced African countries. Pretty significant African countries, including Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent. It was an embarrassing mistake that underscored something that’s very important. If the United States is going to lead on global health security in Africa, we need experienced diplomats with the regional expertise to do it well.

Today, we will consider Mr. Travis’s nomination to be Ambassador to Sierra Leone. I'm pleased that we have a career Foreign Service Officer to represent the United States in a country at the forefront of global outbreak preparedness and disease surveillance. Sierra Leone suffered more than 14,000 Ebola cases during the 2014–2016 epidemic. That experience has made it an indispensable partner in preventing the next outbreak before it reaches U.S. shores. We also need to ensure our diplomats have the resources Congress has previously provided. And so, Mr. Travis, if confirmed, I hope you will be a strong voice inside the Department on the importance of these partnerships to both Sierra Leone and America’s health security.

Mr. Morris, you have been nominated to be Ambassador to Colombia, one of the United States’ closest security partners in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia’s success is critical to stability across a region facing economic turmoil, migration and organized crime. In neighboring Venezuela, Maduro has been removed, but the essence of his regime remains in power. If confirmed, following a year and a half of an often politicized and erratic U.S.-Colombia relationship, I hope you will ensure the U.S. is a reliable partner, cooperating on counternarcotics, investing in economic partnerships and supporting democratic institutions is critical.

And finally, Mr. McCoy, you have been nominated to Montenegro, a NATO ally and key strategic partner in the Western Balkans. The Western Balkans remain a frontline of strategic competition. Russian influence operations, Chinese economic coercion and democratic backsliding continue to threaten the region. That is why our bipartisan legislation, the Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act, was so important to cement U.S. leadership in the region. We cannot afford another hotspot for instability. Bosnia continues to face separatist pressure from Milorad Dodik and persistent efforts to deny the Srebrenica genocide.

So, if confirmed, I hope you will use the mission to Montenegro to support Montenegro’s Euro-Atlantic ambitions and full integration, to reinforce regional stability and to promote America’s economic opportunities on behalf of all American business interests. The United States has spent more than three decades helping build a stable Western Balkans. We cannot afford to send mixed messages now.

I look forward to hearing from each of you. Thank you all.

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