[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2277-S2278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Samantha Power

  Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of Ambassador 
Power's nomination to serve as Administrator for the U.S. Agency for 
International Development or USAID.
  The mission of USAID is to advance the values of democracy throughout 
the world on behalf of the American people, and this mission has never 
been more critical than today.
  If confirmed, Ambassador Power will lead an Agency tasked with 
responding not only to the global crisis of COVID-19 and its 
devastating impact on vulnerable people across the world but with 
responding to some of the most pressing challenges facing the United 
States and the international community: global democratic backsliding, 
human suffering caused by sexual- and gender-based violence, climate 
change, and violent conflict around the world.
  Now, Ambassador Power is an extraordinary public servant. She has 
distinguished herself in her career and is more than capable of leading 
USAID's efforts in addressing these global urgencies. She is clear-eyed 
and sober about the international challenges that she and USAID will 
face.
  Over the past 4 years, experts and career professionals within the 
USAID were, unfortunately, silenced. Decisions were politicized, and 
recruitment and retention were inadequate. Ambassador Power will be the 
kind of leader this Agency now needs to restore integrity, 
transparency, and to rebuild the morale among the dedicated 
professionals who drive USAID's critical mission.
  Ambassador Power also understands that the United States will remain 
a global leader--really, must remain a global leader--who will be able 
to counter the influence of China's aggressive diplomatic and 
development agenda. If the USAID is seen, once again, by our 
international partners as a competent and trustworthy partner, this 
mission of countering China will be stronger. If the USAID is a 
competent and trustworthy partner, we will build on our coalitions to 
counter China's aggressive actions.
  President Biden could not have nominated someone more ready or more 
capable than Ambassador Power. She has had an impressive career from 
her work as a Pulitzer Prize-writing journalist to spending 8 years in 
the Obama administration on the National Security Council, and then as 
the Ambassador to the United Nations, where she championed the rights 
of women, atrocity prevention, and LGBTQ rights, reaching consensus 
with other countries on vital U.S. interests while going toe to toe 
with our adversaries.
  This is one of our more experienced international diplomats from 
America whom we have today, and by elevating Ambassador Power to the 
National Security Council, President Biden has made it clear that 
development and humanitarian assistance will be an integral component 
to meeting our foreign policy objectives. It is important that we 
understand that development and humanitarian assistance are a critical 
part of our foreign policy.
  Finally, I just want to end with something that Ambassador Power 
shared in her most recent book. It is something that, I think, speaks 
so well to her humility, to her willingness to learn, and to why she 
will be the leader of the USAID--and, I say, of our entire Nation--and 
is what the world needs right now. Ambassador Power wrote about a 
meeting she had with the Ambassador from the Central African Republic, 
Charles Doubane, who described to her the horrific violence taking 
place in his country.
  She wrote that, during that meeting, she told him she didn't have an 
agenda. She just wanted to learn from him

[[Page S2278]]

about what was happening in his country. She then writes that he starts 
speaking and then stops and gets very emotional. She assumes he is 
getting emotional about the horrific violence in his country, but he 
says to her, ``No, it's not that, Ambassador. What is happening in my 
country is terrible--more terrible than anything that has ever happened 
to us before. But I am emotional because you are here. The United 
States of America is the greatest country in the world, and you, 
America, are here.''
  That is the vision of America that has defined Ambassador Power's 
career, that has guided her in the awesome responsibility of 
representing this Nation and her values--rooted in the ideals of 
humility, grace, compassion, and thoughtful leadership.
  I have known Ambassador Power since she and I were very young. It has 
been decades now of friendship and connection. You can say many things 
about her, but her core is decency and honor. She will represent the 
best of us. She is exactly the leader we need right now as we navigate 
the increasing and pressing challenges facing the world and our 
country.
  I am thankful. It would be enough for Ambassador Power to retire. It 
would be enough for her to say, ``I have served my country'' and, like 
Cincinnatus, will return to her plow, but, clearly, her calling has not 
yet fully been answered. She will continue, should this body believe it 
and endorse it, to serve this country. She will continue to honor the 
United States of America. She will continue to be a credit to our 
Nation and the world. That is why I urge my colleagues to support her 
nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa