Nominations Hearing Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate
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S. HRG. 111–933 NOMINATIONS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 7, 2009 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gpo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 65–252 PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin Republican Leader designee BARBARA BOXER, California BOB CORKER, Tennessee ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania JIM DEMINT, South Carolina JIM WEBB, Virginia JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, Delaware KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York DAVID MCKean, Staff Director KENNETH A. MYERS, JR., Republican Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY CONTENTS Page Gray, Gordon, Nominee to be Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia ............... 15 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17 Responses to questions submitted by the following Senators: John F. Kerry ............................................................................................ 35 Richard G. Lugar ....................................................................................... 40 Kerry, Hon. John F., U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, opening statement ..... 1 Lugar, Hon. Richard G., U.S. Senator from Indiana, opening statement ........... 4 Roemer, Hon. Timothy J., Nominee to be Ambassador to India .......................... 6 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 Responses to questions submitted by the following Senators: John F. Kerry ............................................................................................ 31 Richard G. Lugar ....................................................................................... 35 Russell D. Feingold ................................................................................... 42 Robert P. Casey, Jr. .................................................................................. 43 Schmierer, Richard J., Nominee to be Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman .. 12 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 Responses to questions submitted by the following Senators: John F. Kerry ............................................................................................ 34 Richard G. Lugar ....................................................................................... 39 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, prepared state- ment in support of Nominee Timothy J. Roemer .............................................. 5 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY NOMINATIONS TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2009 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, DC. Timothy J. Roemer to be Ambassador to India Richard J. Schmierer to be Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman Gordon Gray to be Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John F. Kerry (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Kerry, Feingold, Shaheen, Kaufman, and Lugar. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN F. KERRY, U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS The CHAIRMAN. Good morning, this hearing will come to order. I’m delighted to welcome our three nominees, and momentarily I will say a word about each of them. But if I can, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the presence of a good friend, and our former colleague, Bennett John- ston, who’s here joining us in a much more important role than Senator—the proud role of father-in-law of Tim Roemer. And so, Bennett has served here, I think, four terms. I don’t think any other Louisiana politician has done that in the Senate, so we’re proud to welcome him back, and he—and just tell every- body, he was a terrific friend to me, we all remember him for many things—a great tennis player, sportsman, and competitor. But he also became one of the Senate’s experts on energy, wet- lands, defense issues, and other issues critical to Louisiana. And I remember well the many contributions he made in those fields. I do remember, actually, and I asked my staff to sort of get a hold of the comments he made when he left the Senate, voluntarily, which not everybody does. And he said this, he said, ‘‘Politics and public service is synonymous with the pursuit of public office. It’s a high calling in our society. It’s the best opportunity for helping your State, your country, and your fellow man. ‘‘The Senate, with its faults and criticisms, remains a bulwark of our democracy, and a hallowed institution. I will stand up for it, will not bash it, and will defend it against those who do.’’ I think it was his willingness to do that that endeared him to a lot of peo- ple when he was here. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY 2 So, we’re pleased to welcome you here today, Senator. And it’s a terrific pleasure to welcome these three outstanding public servants. Those of us who have served on the committee a long time—and that obviously includes Dick and I—are particu- larly pleased to see the quality of folks who are picked to be Am- bassadors, who come with experience—either in the private sector or public life—but with a solid base of skills behind them, which- ever it may be. And in this case, we have Tim Roemer, selected to be the Ambassador to India, Gordon Gray, Ambassador to Tunisia, and Richard Schmierer, Ambassador to Oman. Between them, these three nominees have five advanced degrees, nearly 90 years in government, and a staggering amount of institu- tional knowledge and on-the-ground wisdom. I know you have members of your family here today, beyond just our former colleague, and I’d love to have each of you introduce them at the appropriate time. Let me just say a word about each nominee. Tim Roemer has been a longtime colleague and good friend to many of us on this committee. I’d like to submit, for the record, a strong statement from Senator Kennedy, for his nomination. He has, as we all know, served six terms in the Congress, was a key sponsor of legislation to establish the 9/11 Commission, which he later served on with distinction. Along the way he man- aged to earn a Doctorate, and help his wife, Sally, raise four great kids. He currently serves as the President of the Center for National Policy. If confirmed, Ambassador Roemer will be representing our coun- try at an exciting and potentially pivotal moment in United States- India relations. Sometimes it seems like a cliche around here: everybody dealing with India trumpets the ties between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy. It’s much more than that phrase entails. And the Obama administration has a genuine opportunity to forge a true strategic United States-India partnership. Not as a threat or counterweight against any other nation, but based on shared interests and shared values. If we get this right, it will ben- efit not only our nations, but also the region and the world. There are many areas where we can make real progress. First, we have to help India break with the perilous politics of South Asia’s past. India needs no lectures—virtually no nation has suf- fered more from terrorism than India. South Asia is also a volatile nuclear flashpoint. The Senate has passed legislation, which Sen- ator Lugar and I sponsored, to recast our relationship with Paki- stan. And this will help us to secure, not only the long-term safety of the United States and Pakistan relationship, but that of India, as well. I was in India shortly after the Mumbai incident, and I know the volatility that was felt, then. But the degree to which there is still an excessive focus on India-Pakistan border issues is really, almost an anachronism in today’s world, that we need to work to move beyond. On climate change, America and India are two of the world’s key players. And if India can find a greener path to economic develop- ment, that can lead the way for other large, populous nations like VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:14 Apr 05, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\2009 NOMS GONE TO PRINT\65252.TXT SENFOR1 PsN: BETTY 3 Mexico and Indonesia. And it’s vital to both our nations that we help India do so. Senator Lugar and I and others supported a civilian nuclear deal with India, in part, because it will help India grow its economy with clean energy. I hope this will now open the door to greater cooperation on nonproliferation. Finally, there are the personal and cultural ties that are the life- blood of our partnership: The international visits, phone calls, the small businesses, software engineers, educational exchanges have flourished in Massachusetts and other States across our country. I know Secretary Clinton will be carrying a message of friendship to India during her visit later this month to engage with India’s newly reelected leadership.