In a show of bipartisan support for officially condemning forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China, the U. S Senate confirmed three nominees to diplomatic positions considered vital to enforcing the crackdown on the Chinese government.
The votes on those nominations were scheduled concurrently with the agreement to pass the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to the Dec. 16 Congressional Record. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) presented the request to expedite passage of the act, saying the quick passage wouldn't impede legitimate trade.
"Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains, and, frankly, they should have no concerns about this law," Rubio said in making the request for the unanimous consent. “Yet for those that have not done that, they will no longer be able to continue to make Americans - every one of us, frankly - unwitting accomplices in the atrocities and genocide that are being committed by the Chinese Communist Party."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) expressed support for the request and proposed combining passage of the act with the votes on the nominees to "make sure we have personnel in place to properly implement this policy," according to the Congressional Record.
"At the very least, as we put forward this important new policy, it does make sense to accompany it and its passage with three key personnel who will be in charge of implementing it," Murphy said.
The measures passed without objection, according to the Congressional Record.
The Senate voted 75-18 to confirm R. Nicholas Burns to be Ambassador People's Republic of China; 76-13 to confirm Ramin Toloui to be an Assistant Secretary of State, Economic and Business Affairs; and 85-5 to confirm Rashad Hussain as Ambassador At Large for International Religious Freedom, according to the Roll Call vote tally reported on the Senate
President Joseph R. Biden made the nomination this past summer. When announcing the nominations, the White House released statements touting the qualifications of each nominee.
Nicholas Burns, a professor of diplomacy and international relations at Harvard University, is "a respected former career member of the Foreign Service," according to an Aug. 20 statement by the White House. His extensive experience includes serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, working with the Chinese government on Afghanistan, United Nations sanctions against Iran and North Korea, and U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific, among other issues. Burns was also ambassador to NATO and to Greece, a spokesman for the state department and served on the National Security Council staff on Soviet and Russian Affairs.
Ramin Toloui, an international-finance professor at Stanford University led the policy review for international economics on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, according to the White House announcement. He began his career as a civil servant at the Department of the Treasury and served in the Obama-Biden administration as Assistant Secretary for International Finance at the Department of the Treasury. , the White House stated July 30.
Rashad Hussain served as Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division prior to becoming Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council in the Biden administration, the White House stated in a July 30 announcement of Biden nominations. During the Obama administration, Hussain also served as U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, U.S. Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications and Deputy Associate White House Counsel.
