Bush Nominee for Refugee Issues Draws Heat

[highplainsdem]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/25/national/w080900D66.DTL


Bush Nominee for Refugee Issues Draws Heat
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

(10-25) 08:13 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

Democratic senators Tuesday questioned whether President Bush's nominee to lead the State Department refugee program is qualified for the job.

Bush has nominated Ellen Sauerbrey, who twice lost bids for Maryland governor, to be assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration. If confirmed, she would manage a nearly $1 billion budget for refugee crises overseas.

"I don't think we see the requisite experience that we've seen in other nominees" for the job, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., at Sauerbrey's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In the wake of ousted disaster relief chief Michael Brown, Democrats especially have complained that some of Bush's nominations carry the whiff of cronyism because they lack experience in the jobs for which they are nominated. Brown resigned after the government failed to act quickly to the disaster wrought on the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina.

<snip>

But she has "three decades of public service in Maryland Republican politics" and, in her own words, "the humanitarian heart to get the job done."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Ye cats and little fishes!

If they want to find someone with experience with refugees, why in the world aren't they going to organizations that work to help refugees? Bush can wander down to N Street right there in DC and talk to the folks at Refugees International. Everyone there works for refugee rights!

Check out their website at: www.refugeesinternational.org

and you'll see what I mean.

[Rose Siding]

2. Senator Boxer, mistress of understatement

"I don't think we see the requisite experience that we've seen in other nominees"

:rofl:

[rainbow4321]

3. Opposition Grows to Bush’s Population Office Nominee

http://www.planetwire.org/

In choosing Ellen Sauerbrey to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, President Bush has once again nominated a political supporter to a critical post rather than a competent administrator, a group of 11 non-governmental organizations charged today. They called on him to withdraw the nomination.

“Ambassador Sauerbrey is utterly unqualified for this critical position,” said the Center for Health and Gender Equity in a statement on behalf of the coalition. Sauerbrey, currently U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, would be responsible in the new position for $700 million in refugee protection and the U.S. response to complex humanitarian emergencies worldwide, although she has no experience in either field. She would work closely with the Agency for International Development to manage international family planning and population assistance, but she is an ardent opponent of both, the statement said.

“Ambassador Sauerbrey falls short on every count,” said June Zeitlin, executive director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). She called Sauerbrey’s choice “yet another in a long string of crony nominations” by President Bush.


Jodi Jacobson, executive director of the Center, noted that Sauerbrey has repeatedly said falsely that the term “reproductive health” is code for abortion, and that she led U.S. efforts in March to block international reaffirmation of the 1995 Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women. “She does not have the integrity to serve as assistant secretary of state,” Jacobson said.

[UpInArms]

4. Bush's Pick for State Post Criticized ( Ellen Sauerbrey, a GOP loyalist)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&e=2&u=/ap/20051025/ap_on_go_pr_wh/senate_sauerbrey

WASHINGTON - Ellen Sauerbrey, a Republican loyalist chosen by
President Bush to head the State Department's refugee program, is the latest nominee to face tough questions from senators about her qualifications.

The State Department's refugee and migration program needs a chief with experience handling crises of displaced people, Democrats said Tuesday.

"It doesn't appear that you have very specific experience," said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., during Sauerbrey's confirmation hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee.

"I don't think we see the requisite experience that we've seen in other nominees" for the job, added Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.

Sauerbrey, a two-time Republican candidate for Maryland governor who ran Bush's 2000 campaign in the state, said she had the management, budgetary and humanitarian experience of three decades of public service and, currently, as U.S. envoy on women's issues to the
United Nations.

...more...

[tanyev]

5. Of course she'll be able to handle crises of displaced people.

She did a fabulous job organizing the soccer mom car pool.

[onenote]

6. Its not her heart that concerns me

(although republican with a humanitarian heart is an oxymoron) but her head -- does she have the brains for the job? Doubtful.

onenote

[cosmicdot]

7. Sauerbrey

~snip~

"I always feel when I'm being introduced as a representative of the United Nations that I have to say I'm a conservative; I'm not a feminist ...

"Sean Hannity, this morning, talked about visions and the differences in visions. My perception is that this prevailing vision at the U.N. is one that is based on rights, but rights without responsibility. Family, whatever you want it to be. Sexual freedom, anything goes. Practically every resolution that goes before the U.N. … somebody tries to figure out a way to put in 'reproductive services'. There are many that view marriage as an oppressive institution that represses women and denies them of their opportunities ...

"Let me wrap up by saying conservatives tend not to be engaged in the U.N. Perhaps we are not terribly interested in the U.N. because we don't see it as a being a friendly forum. But one thing I think we all have to understand is that we can't afford to ignore what is going on in these international bodies because they have the ability to have a profound impact on us.

"During the Lawrence v. Texas deliberations and the ruling, our U.S. Supreme Court cited what they call customary international law in that ruling. And the other side works tirelessly to get into every U.N. commission resolution that they can find, of any commission, language that addresses the points they're trying to make. And they do it time after time after time. Often these are things that the United States does not sign onto, and yet because it is being stated over and over and over again by a ruling body, our Supreme Court is saying this is becoming customary international law and using it in a decision like Lawrence. We don't dare ignore what is going on in the United Nations.

"We also don't dare not recognize that the perception of the U.S. is being formed in a couple of arenas. One is certainly the media, which has a very distorted perception of what life is all about. It's what is being seen in the films and the broadcasts. Also, a clear perception of the United States is coming from what other countries see us do in the international arena of the United Nations. It is important that the United States be there to demonstrate moral leadership. Whose vision do you want reflected in the United Nations, Hillary Clinton's vision, which was the vision that preceded me, or the George Bush vision - two very different visions.

"Pro-family groups need to be highly involved. ~snip~

http://www.unitedfamilies.org/ellen.asp

Ellen Sauerbrey and Lynne Cheney - separated at birth :shrug: