Blumenauer leads campaign for Jim Leach

Now that John Bolton will no longer be the UN Ambassador, about 50 members of Congress - led by Congressman Earl Blumnauer - are urging the president to nominate defeated Congressman Jim Leach (R-Iowa) to the post.

From the Des Moines Register:

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said that 50 members of the House have signed a letter written by him and Rep. Jim Walsh, R-N.Y., advocating Leach to replace Bolton.

The letter will be delivered to the White House on Friday.

“Jim Leach is the most skilled, most qualified person for the job,” Blumenauer said in a statement. “I have worked closely with Jim and I know he’s the best person to help make the United Nations more effective at the things that matter.”

Leach in an interview last week said he doubted he would be chosen by the president. Leach was one of the few Republicans to vote against military action in Iraq and has called it the greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. ...

Leach is a senior member of the International Relations Committee and the chairman of the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. He served in the 1990s as chairman of the House Banking Committee. Prior to his election to Congress, Leach was a foreign service officer who served at the United Nations under former President Bush when Bush was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Discuss.

  • Dave Porter (unverified)
    (Show?)

    I applaud Earl for this effort.

    I concur with this statement about Jim Leach from TPM Cafe : "His work on Asian affairs, having chaired the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs within HIRC, will prove essential not only where the Korean Peninsula is at stake but in terms of crafting a forward-looking global outlook to fit the contours of a new landscape where China and India’s rise continues to tip the geo-strategic balance."

    It's all about finding ways to engage China, and to a lesser immediate extent India, to create a stable and peaceful world in this 21st century. In Oregon, this means teaching our students Mandarin and sending them to China.

    The NY Times today (12/9) has a front page story "China Show Signs of Shedding Its False Modesty." It reports: "China’s Communist Party has a new agenda: it is encouraging people to discuss what it means to be a major world power and has largely stopped denying that China intends to become one soon.... With its $1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, surging military spending and diplomatic initiatives in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Beijing has begun asserting its interests far beyond its borders. Chinese party leaders are acting as if they intend to start exercising more power abroad rather than just protecting their political power at home."

  • charles (unverified)
    (Show?)
    <h2>I concur with, Dave this is a great pick. The fact that Rep. Walsh is joining Earl spearheading the effort to get Leach nominated shows that he has bipartisan appeal. I got that info from a email sent out by center for american progress about a week ago, it claimed that both representitives were circulating a petition of support for Leach's nomination.</h2>
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