WASHINGTON—U.S. Global Leadership Coalition President and CEO, Liz Schrayer, issued the following statement on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approval of the nomination of Gayle Smith to serve as the next Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID):

I commend Chairman Bob Corker and Ranking Member Ben Cardin for moving expeditiously to advance Gayle Smith’s nomination as Administrator of USAID through the Senate and I urge the full Senate to confirm her nomination without delay.

Never before has the world seen so many humanitarian crises at one time. These challenges, coupled with the enormous opportunities to advance America’s interests throughout the world, require strong and effective leadership at USAID.

On day one, Gayle can hit the ground running with her career-long knowledge, experience and passion to move today’s reform-oriented development agenda forward. Gayle has been integral in every aspect of the numerous bipartisan initiatives that are making a difference in the development world – from Feed the Future to Power Africa. I urge the Senate’s swift action to confirm her nomination before the August recess so she can help deliver results at USAID that are crucial to America’s security and economic interests.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic, military, and community leaders in all 50 states who support strategic investments to elevate development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.