Biden elevates Samantha Power to Cabinet rank
When she was Permanent Representative to the United Nations and thereafter, it was Samantha Power, who was the prime mover of the resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council.
Together with then Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and ably assisted by Tom Malinowski, then a State Department, worked hard on the project which was co- sponsored by Sri Lanka. The latter now represents New Jersey’s seventh district in the House.
This week, US President elect Joe Biden appointed Ms Power as Administrator of the USAID or the agency for international development. He also elevated her to Cabinet rank which gives far more importance to the office he holds.
Biden paid a glowing tribute to her when he said, “There is simply no one better to ensure our development agenda which is the core pillar of our foreign policy. Sam is one of our country’s most respected voices on humanitarian issues and I have seen both her passion and her principles firsthand. As US Ambassador to the United Nations, she represented America on the world stage with courage and humanity.”
“During her time in National Security Council staff she fought tirelessly to prioritise human rights. And as a Pulitzer Prize winning author she advocated for the world’s most vulnerable populations.”
“Sam understands that moral leadership must be in the foundation of our foreign policy, and United States must lead on global development to advance our own health security, prosperity and values. There could be no one no one more qualified to lead those efforts than Samantha power.”
Ms Power responded saying, among other things, the following: ““Our security is connected for the security of people living elsewhere. Many of the issues which we in the United States are grappling with, the pandemic, the economic crisis, climate consequences, threats to the rule of law and even to democracy. These are issues people all around the world are grappling with as well.”
“The United States has chance to partner with and support people who are in the frontlines in battling COVID, or trying to build climate resilience, who are standing up for the rule of law, standing up against inequality and trying to create more just societies.”
“Throughout my carrier as a journalist and then as an activist and then as a diplomat I have had the chance to travel to many conflict ravaged countries,
“In order to keep the United States, secure, we need to invest in defence, Diplomacy and Development. The President-elect Biden sees development as central to U.S national security, and that is why he has elevated USAID giving it a seat on the National Security Council.”
“Humanitarian support, democracy assistance, and economic development those are not nice to have in our foreign policy toolbox. They are critical if we are to see a more stable and just world exist.”