[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28575]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   IN SUPPORT OF SENATOR CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN'S AMBASSADORSHIP TO NEW 
                                ZEALAND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to 
express strong support for the confirmation of Senator Carol Moseley-
Braun to the ambassadorship of New Zealand. I have known Carol Moseley-
Braun both personally and professionally for many years and look 
forward to her service in this position.
  Senator Moseley-Braun is an extraordinary woman who has led an 
extraordinary life, a life of breaking stereotypes, a life of 
shattering glass ceilings, a life of public service. She earned her law 
degree from the University of Chicago in 1972 and served as an 
assistant United States attorney from 1973 to 1977. In 1978, she was 
elected to the Illinois House of Representatives where she became the 
first female assistant majority leader. In 1988, Senator Moseley-Braun 
was elected Cook County Recorder of Deeds, racking up several more 
firsts. In 1992, she was elected to the United States Senate, becoming 
the first African American woman to serve in that honorable body.
  Sometime ago, President Clinton nominated Senator Moseley-Braun to 
become our ambassador to New Zealand. As ambassador, Carol Moseley-
Braun would be the highest ranking diplomatic official accredited to 
represent our interests in that Pacific Rim nation. I can testify from 
personal knowledge that Senator Moseley-Braun is well qualified to 
undertake those solemn responsibilities.
  Throughout her career in public life, Senator Moseley-Braun has 
displayed tremendous ability, insight, and perceptivity on the great 
issues of the day. She is a woman of great personal charm who has been 
blessed with a remarkable talent to interact with people, to engage 
them in dialogue, and to represent her position to them with logic, 
clarity, and persuasiveness. In short, she would represent us well to 
the people of New Zealand.
  Mr. Speaker, it is the long-standing tradition of the Senate to 
welcome former colleagues who have been nominated to high office by the 
President of the United States and to extend them the courtesy of 
prompt hearings, in accord with their constitutional responsibilities 
to advise and consent. Only six former Senators have been turned down 
for nomination this century, all for Cabinet or Supreme Court 
positions. A Senator has not been rejected for an ambassadorial 
appointment since 1835.
  Up to this point, Senator Moseley-Braun's nomination has been blocked 
by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who, 
according to news reports, has demanded an apology for a speech Senator 
Moseley-Braun made criticizing the use of the Confederate flag.
  A study by the Alliance for Justice determined that the nomination of 
an average nonwhite candidate took 60 days longer than that of a white 
candidate. Couple these two facts and we have a profound malfunction in 
our democracy.
  Senator Carol Moseley-Braun will do just fine in whatever direction 
life takes her. She will be a success as an ambassador if she is 
confirmed; she will be a success in some other endeavor if she is 
denied. But democracy in the United States faces a bleaker choice. Mr. 
Speaker, make no mistake, our democracy is being weighed in the balance 
in the coming days. If fairness does not prevail, if Senator Carol 
Moseley-Braun is denied confirmation, then those responsible will have 
offered up proof, proof to the American people, proof to the world, 
that fairness and justice are still wanted in America five generations 
after the end of the Civil War. I find that possibility abhorrent, 
detestable, and obscene.
  So I add my voice to those urging the Senate to bring the nomination 
of Senator Moseley-Braun to a quick vote and to approve the nomination 
by the largest vote possible. I hope that on tomorrow the Senate 
Committee on Foreign Relations will move promptly to approve the 
nomination of Carol Moseley-Braun as our next ambassador to New Zealand 
and America will be well served.

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