Table Of ContentS. HRG. 113–720
NOMINATIONS OF THE 113TH
CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION
HEARINGS
BEFORETHE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
JANUARY 16 THROUGH DECEMBER 2, 2014
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
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S. HRG. 113–720
NOMINATIONS OF THE 113TH
CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION
HEARINGS
BEFORETHE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
JANUARY 16 THROUGH DECEMBER 2, 2014
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
(
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
96–040 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
113TH CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman
BARBARA BOXER, California BOB CORKER, Tennessee
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania1 MARCO RUBIO, Florida
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
TOM UDALL, New Mexico JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut RAND PAUL, Kentucky
TIM KAINE, Virginia
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts2
DANIEL E. O’BRIEN, Democratic Staff Director
LESTER E. MUNSON III, Republican Staff Director
————
1Senator Casey served on the committee until July 16, 2013.
2Senator Markey joined the committee on July 16, 2013.
(II)
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CONTENTS
[Any additional material relating to these nominees may be found
at the end of the applicable day’s hearing.]
Page
Thursday, January 16, 2014 ............................................................................... 1
Robert C. Barber, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Iceland ................................................................................................................... 4
George James Tsunis, of New York to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of
Norway .................................................................................................................. 9
Colleen Bradley Bell, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to Hun-
gary ....................................................................................................................... 12
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 ................................................................................. 27
Hon. Max Baucus, of Montana, to be Ambassador to China ............................... 30
Hon. Arnold Chacon, of Virginia, to be Director General of the Foreign Serv-
ice .......................................................................................................................... 54
Hon. Daniel Bennett Smith, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of State
for Intelligence and Research .............................................................................. 59
Tuesday, February 4, 2014 ................................................................................. 93
Bathsheba Nell Crocker, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary
of State for International Organization Affairs ................................................. 95
Michael Anderson Lawson, of California, for the rank of Ambassador during
his tenure of service as Representative on the Council of the International
Civilian Aviation Organization ........................................................................... 102
Robert A. Wood, of New York, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure
of service as U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament ............ 105
Thursday, February 6, 2014 ............................................................................... 119
Luis G. Moreno, of Texas, to be Ambassador to Jamaica ..................................... 121
John L. Estrada, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago ............................................................................................................ 124
Noah Bryson Mamet, of California, to be Ambassador to the Argentine Repub-
lic ........................................................................................................................... 127
Thursday, February 13, 2014 ............................................................................. 159
Matthew Tueller, of Utah, to be Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen ............ 164
Douglas Alan Silliman, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait ...... 168
Mark Gilbert, of Florida, to be Ambassador to New Zealand and to serve
concurrently as Ambassador to Samoa .............................................................. 171
Joseph William Westphal, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia ..................................................................................................... 174
(III)
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IV
Page
Thursday, March 6, 2014 ..................................................................................... 199
Deborah L. Birx, of Maryland, to be Ambassador at Large and Coordinator
of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally ......... 201
Suzan G. LeVine, of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Swiss Confed-
eration, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation
as Ambassador to the Principality of Liechtenstein .......................................... 206
Maureen Elizabeth Cormack, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to Bosnia and
Herzegovina .......................................................................................................... 210
Peter A. Selfridge, of Minnesota, to be Chief of Protocol, and to have the
rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service ............................................. 217
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 ......................................................................................... 239
Paige Eve Alexander, of Virginia, to be Assistant Administrator, Bureau
for the Middle East, United States Agency for International Development ... 240
Alice G. Wells, of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan ............................................................................................................... 245
Thomas P. Kelly III, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Djibouti ................................................................................................................. 249
Cassandra Q. Butts, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas ........................................................................ 252
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 .................................................................................... 271
Mark Sobel, of Virginia, to be United States Executive Director of the Inter-
national Monetary Fund for a term of two years .............................................. 274
Sunil Sabharwal, of California, to be United States Alternate Executive Direc-
tor of the International Monetary Fund for a term of two years ..................... 276
Matthew T. McGuire, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Execu-
tive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
for a term of two years ........................................................................................ 290
Mileydi Guilarte, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Alternate
Director of the Inter-American Development Bank .......................................... 294
Thursday, May 15, 2014 ....................................................................................... 315
Andrew H. Schapiro, of Illinois, to be Ambassador to the Czech Republic ......... 318
Nina Hachigian, of California, to be Representative to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador ............... 322
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 .................................................................................. 337
Hon. Robert Stephen Beecroft, of California, to be Ambassador to the Arab
Republic of Egypt ................................................................................................. 340
Hon. Stuart E. Jones, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Iraq ........................................................................................................................ 342
Dana Shell Smith, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the State of Qatar ............ 346
James D. Nealon, of New Hampshire, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Honduras .......................................................................................................... 365
Gentry O. Smith, of North Carolina, to be Director of the Office of Foreign
Missions ................................................................................................................ 368
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 ........................................................................................ 403
Mark William Lippert, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Korea ..... 406
Jonathan Nicholas Stivers, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant
Administrator of the Bureau for Asia, United States Agency for Inter-
national Development .......................................................................................... 409
Theodore G. Osius III, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Socialist Repub-
lic of Vietnam ....................................................................................................... 413
Joan A. Polaschik, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the People’s Democratic
Republic of Algeria ............................................................................................... 416
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V
Page
Thursday, June 26, 2014 ..................................................................................... 437
Hon. Alfonso E. Lenhardt, of New York, to be Deputy Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development ............................... 438
Marcia Denise Occomy, of the District of Columbia, to be United States
Director of the African Development Bank for a term of 5 years .................... 443
Thursday, July 10, 2014 ...................................................................................... 465
Todd D. Robinson, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Guatemala ............................................................................................................ 467
Leslie Ann Bassett, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Para-
guay ....................................................................................................................... 470
Tuesday, July 15, 2014 ......................................................................................... 485
Jane D. Hartley, of New York, to be Ambassador to the French Republic
and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambas-
sador to the Principality of Monaco .................................................................... 490
Hon. John R. Bass, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Turkey ................................................................................................................... 493
Kevin F. O’Malley, of Missouri, to be Ambassador to Ireland ............................. 497
Brent Robert Hartley, of Oregon, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Slo-
venia ...................................................................................................................... 512
James D. Pettit, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova ...... 515
Thursday, July 17, 2014 ...................................................................................... 533
Erica J. Barks Ruggles, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Rwanda ............................................................................................................. 535
Hon. George Albert Krol, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Kazakhstan ....................................................................................................... 539
Allan P. Mustard, of Washington, to be Ambassador of the United States
of America to Turkmenistan ............................................................................... 542
David Pressman, of New York, to be Alternate Representative for Special
Political Affairs in the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador;
Alternate Representative to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the
United Nations, during his tenure of service as Alternate Representative
for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations ............................................ 545
Hon. Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador
to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh .............................................................. 547
Tuesday, July 29, 2014 ......................................................................................... 577
Hon. John Francis Tefft, of Virginia, to be Ambassador of the United States
to the Russian Federation ................................................................................... 580
Donald L. Heflin, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cabo
Verde ..................................................................................................................... 592
Earl Robert Miller, of Michigan, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Bot-
swana .................................................................................................................... 594
Craig B. Allen, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam ................ 597
Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, to be the Deputy Representative to the
United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, and Deputy Representative
in the Security Council of the United Nations; and to be Representative
to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during
her tenure of service as Deputy Representative to the United Nations .......... 606
Stafford Fitzgerald Haney, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Costa Rica ......................................................................................................... 609
Charles C. Adams, Jr., of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Finland .................................................................................................................. 612
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VI
Page
Wednesday, September 10, 2014 ....................................................................... 631
William V. Roebuck, of North Carolina, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom
of Bahrain ............................................................................................................. 633
Judith Beth Cefkin, of Colorado, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Fiji,
and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambas-
sador to the Republic of Kiribati, the republic of Nauru, the Kingdom
of Tonga, and Tuvalu ........................................................................................... 636
Barbara A. Leaf, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates .. 639
Pamela Leora Spratlen, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Uzbekistan ........................................................................................................ 644
Thursday, September 11, 2014 .......................................................................... 675
James Peter Zumwalt, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
Senegal and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation
as Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ............................................. 677
Robert T. Yamate, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Mada-
gascar, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation
as Ambassador to the Union of the Comoros ..................................................... 680
Virginia E. Palmer, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Malawi .. 682
Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambas-
sador at Large for International Religious Freedom ......................................... 685
Wednesday, September 17, 2014 ....................................................................... 697
Robert Francis Cekuta, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic
of Azerbaijan ......................................................................................................... 700
Richard M. Mills, Jr., of Texas, to be Ambassador of the United States
to the Republic of Armenia .................................................................................. 703
Jess Lippincott Baily, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Mac-
edonia .................................................................................................................... 707
Margaret Ann Uyehara, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to Montenegro ................... 710
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 ........................................................................ 737
Antony John Blinken, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of State ................ 739
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 ................................................................................ 817
Peter Michael McKinley, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Islamic Repub-
lic of Afghanistan ................................................................................................. 820
Isobel Coleman, of New York, to be Representative to the United Nations
for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador; and
as an Alternate Representative to the Sessions of the General Assembly
of the United Nations during her tenure of service as Representative to
the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform .................................... 824
Richard Rahul Verma, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Republic of
India ...................................................................................................................... 827
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NOMINATIONS OF ROBERT BARBER,
GEORGE TSUNIS, COLLEEN BELL
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014
U.S. SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, DC.
Robert C. Barber, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the Re-
public of Iceland
George James Tsunis, of New York, to be Ambassador to the King-
dom of Norway
Colleen Bradley Bell, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador
to Hungary
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:34 p.m., in room
SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Chris Murphy pre-
siding.
Present: Senators Murphy, Cardin, Kaine, Markey, Johnson, and
McCain.
Also Present: Senator Charles E. Schumer.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRIS MURPHY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT
Senator MURPHY. Good afternoon, everyone. This hearing of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee will now come to order.
Today, the committee is considering three nominations—George
Tsunis, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway; Robert Bar-
ber, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland; and Colleen Bell,
to be Ambassador to Hungary.
Let me begin this afternoon by welcoming our nominees and wel-
coming your families. I will let you introduce any family members
that may be here.
I am going to give some brief opening remarks, followed by Sen-
ator Johnson, our ranking member. I will introduce you. I under-
stand that Senator Schumer is likely going to be here to introduce
you, Mr. Tsunis. So if he is not here yet when we are done with
our opening remarks, I will introduce Ms. Bell and Mr. Barber, and
they might begin. And then when Senator Schumer comes here, he
can introduce you, Mr. Tsunis. But we are glad to welcome Senator
Schumer when he can arrive.
I want to congratulate all of you on your nominations. If con-
firmed, you are going to be called upon to serve and advance the
interests of the American people in your respective missions. And
(1)
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2
I thank you and your families for your willingness to serve this
country in this important capacity.
The moment is unique in the sense that we have a number of
irons in the fire with our European partners. You are going to be
there at a very important time to talk about our communal mission
to promote global security, whether it be as NATO partners or in
our joint efforts to combat terrorism. You are going to be there at
a really important time for the growing economic partnership be-
tween the United States and Europe, a moment at which we hope
during your tenure we will negotiate and perhaps enter into a new
trade agreement, now referred to as the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership.
And we know that there is going to be continued interest in our
very complicated, but very necessary intelligence relationship. I
and a few members of the House were just in Europe over the holi-
days, talking about the importance of both clarifying our intel-
ligence relationship going forward, but also preserving it because
we have a communal interest to prevent grievous attacks against
both the United States and Europe.
Mr. Tsunis, let me begin with a few words about Norway. The
United States and Norway enjoy a long tradition of friendly rela-
tionships based on democratic values. We also share an increase in
addressing the problems posed by climate change, particularly with
respect to the Arctic and building a cooperation in the region
through the Arctic Council.
On the security side, Norway, as you know, is a founding mem-
ber of NATO, has been a partner with us in Afghanistan, Libya,
the Balkans, and in counterterrorism. In her visit to Washington
earlier this month, Norway’s Defense Minister emphasized the im-
portance of European nations stepping up to the plate at a larger
scale to take a share of global political and economic burdens.
Norway is also the world’s seventh-largest petroleum exporter,
and the Norwegian economy has enjoyed some pretty impressive
growth in recent years. so we look forward to hearing your
thoughts on how to continue these very important partnerships
with Norway, particularly in the lead-up to next year’s NATO sum-
mit.
Mr. Barber, another nation that is very important to this com-
mittee is Iceland. The United States is one of Iceland’s main for-
eign investors and trading partners. We were the first country to
recognize Iceland’s independence in 1944, following Danish rule.
It is another founding member of NATO. And although we no
longer have U.S. military forces permanently stationed in Iceland,
Iceland and the United States have worked closely again on mis-
sions in Afghanistan and Lebanon and the Balkans.
And as we talked about privately, the Icelandic economy has
been a success story for much of the past two decades, although it
encountered deep financial problems in 2008. The collapse of these
major banks, coupled with the global financial crisis, it had a ripple
effect throughout Iceland’s economy, and we look forward to your
thoughts on how the United States can continue to allow Iceland
to recover.
And finally, Ms. Bell, let me turn to Hungary. Since the fall of
communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the United States and
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