Washington-Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement on President-elect Biden’s decision to nominate Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense.
“President-elect Biden has made an excellent choice in nominating Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense. He has a distinguished record of military service to our nation, and the Biden Administration will benefit from his extensive experience in the Middle East and Afghanistan. We need leaders who can apply a real-world view to making U.S. defense policy in this difficult and dangerous region. I’m also glad that the President-elect is following through on his commitment to select a cabinet that reflects our country’s rich diversity by nominating an African-American to this role for the first time. Most important, the President-elect has trust and confidence in Lloyd Austin, which will help reverse the dysfunction we’ve seen in the last four years. I urge my colleagues to support his nomination.".
