United States Mission Geneva

President Obama has announced two new nominations for Geneva – Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council and Laura Kennedy, United States Representative to the Conference on Disarmament.

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE: Betty E. King, of New York, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, with the rank of Ambassador. Betty E. King served as the United States Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush. In that capacity, Ms. King worked on human rights, children, development, aging and population issues.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts:

• Barbara J. Bennett, Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency

• Michael Punke, Deputy Trade Representative – Geneva, Office of the United States Trade Representative

As United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Kirk is a member of President Obama’s Cabinet and serves as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on trade issues.
Ambassador Kirk was nominated to be United States Trade Representative by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 18, 2009. [...]

Today, President Barack Obama announced that Thomas Paul D’Agostino, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy and Administrator for Nuclear Security of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will continue serving in his current role.

Mr. Griffiths joined the Foreign Service in 1988 and served in Quebec City, Canada, Lisbon, Portugal, and Maputo, Mozambique before returning to Washington, D.C. Upon completion of the Department of State’s nine-month economic course, Mr. Griffiths worked on the South Africa desk during that country’s transition to democracy. In Rabat, Morocco, he served as First Secretary of Economic Affairs, specializing in economic development and trade promotion. As Counselor for International Economic Affairs at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Mr. Griffiths advanced U.S. economic, development and environmental goals at the United Nations. Mr. Griffiths served as Deputy Chief of Mission and chargé d’affaires, a.i. at the United States Embassy to the Republic of Haiti from 2004 to 2006, where the United States played a leading role responding to natural disasters and making significant improvements in Haiti’s public health sector. As Principal Officer at the United States Consulate General in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Mr. Griffiths led a team of eighty professionals to protect and advance U.S. interests in the commercial and agriculture heartland of Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands.

The United States is pleased to note the election of Professor Dinah Shelton to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Professor Shelton, a skilled legal scholar, joins the seven-member commission dedicated to reviewing cases on human rights within the framework of the inter-American system’s legal instruments. Her three-year term begins in January 2010. Professor Shelton is the first woman nominated by the United States to the IACHR.

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk today applauded the United States Senate for the confirmation of Demetrios Marantis as Deputy United States Trade Representative. Marantis will be responsible for U.S. trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia and Africa. He will also lead USTR global initiatives on trade and development, labor, and the environment.