Committee: Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Title: Nominations

Date: June 15, 2017

Link: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/nominations-061517
Nominee:
The Honorable Mark Green

To be Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development

Summary:

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan nomination hearing, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced and gave a full-throated endorsement of Amb. Mark Green, praising his experience and passion for international development while also noting the critical importance of USAID in advancing America’s national security and values around the world.

Chairman Corker echoed these remarks and highlighted the bipartisan progress that been made on reforming U.S. foreign assistance programs such as GFSA, Electrify Africa, and Water for the World. Each of the Senators who spoke similarly praised Green’s commitment and leadership in international development in a bipartisan display of support.

The most pointed question of the hearing came from Sen. Bob Menendez, who twice asked Green about his belief on whether USAID should remain independent from the State Department. Green responded by saying that “I believe that USAID and the State Department need to be closely aligned, but I believe that they have different cultures within each institution. What that alignment looks like, to be honest I don’t know at this point.”