this WOULD be laughable, but we've already seen what 'brownie' was responsible for

January 7, 2006

Another Brownie in the Making

Bush Appoints Another Unqualified Nominee

By Gene C. Gerard

Last week President Bush took advantage of Congress’ holiday recess to appoint Ellen Sauerbrey as the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). The Senate had stalled on approving her nomination because Ms. Sauerbrey has no experience. This State Department position administers the government’s policies regarding refugees and international migration issues and oversees approximately $700 million in federal funds for refugee protection, resettlement, and humanitarian assistance programs. Given the importance of this position, and the nominee’s total lack of experience, Mr. Bush abused his authority by circumventing the Senate.

Although the Bush administration insisted that Ms. Sauerbrey was well qualified for the position, her resume was appallingly slender. She twice ran as the Republican nominee for Maryland Governor, loosing both times. She served as a representative in the Maryland legislature from 1978 to 1994. In 2000, she was the chairperson for the Maryland for Bush Campaign. Her only experience in federal government is having served as the U.S. representative on a United Nations committee on women’s issues.

A comparison of Ms. Sauerbrey’s experience with that of the three individuals who have most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for PRM clearly demonstrates her lack of qualifications. Prior to his appointment to this position in 2002, Arthur E. Dewey served for five years as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Refugee Programs in the State Department. Before that, he was a United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, and he also served for four years as the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees.

Julia V. Taft held this position from 1997 to 2002. Prior to her appointment, she was the President and CEO of InterAction, a coalition of 156 U.S.-based voluntary organizations that works on refugee assistance and humanitarian relief throughout the world. Prior to this, she was Director of the U.S. Interagency Task Force for Indochina Refugees. Ms. Taft also served for three years as the Director of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance at the Agency for International Development, where she managed all U.S. relief responses to foreign disasters. It’s worth noting that although Ms. Taft was a prominent Republican, President Clinton nominated her because of her overwhelming qualifications.................