WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) President and CEO, Liz Schrayer, released the following statement on today’s foreign policy and national security nominations and appointments announced by President-elect Joe Biden:

Schrayer also provided comments on a few specific nominations and appointments dealing directly with the International Affairs Budget.

On the nomination of Tony Blinken as Secretary of State, Schrayer said:

“We welcome the nomination of Tony Blinken to become the next Secretary of State, having worked closely with him over his decades of service on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. His long history of support for diplomacy and development and commitment to a bipartisan tradition in foreign policy make him the right choice to become America’s top diplomat at a time when events around the world are profoundly impacting our lives here at home, and if confirmed we look forward to working with him to advance America’s interests.”

“In an interview with Tony in October, he reinforced then candidate-Joe Biden’s foreign priorities with three words—leadership, cooperation, and democracy. On America’s role in the world, he asserted that, ‘when we are not engaged…someone else is trying to take our place…[and] that’s not good for the United States… The first thing a Joe Biden Administration would do would be to reassert American leadership… leading with our diplomacy.”

View Schrayer’s full interview with Tony Blinken here.

On the appointment of Jake Sullivan, who has joined several past USGLC events as a guest speaker, as National Security Advisor, Schrayer said:

“Jake Sullivan has long been one of the sharpest observers of America’s role in the world and one of the drivers of the debate on how America can do more to restore global leadership, especially as it relates to connecting U.S. foreign policy benefits not only with the middle class but with the Heartland in middle America—a calling card for the USGLC. He will bring his keen eye, having called for a new ‘American exceptionalism’ rooted in a greater reliance on diplomacy and cooperation, and having written extensively about renewing America’s global leadership by rebalancing American power among defense, diplomacy, development, trade, investment, and technology.’”

On the nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Schrayer said:

“An inspired pick for Ambassador to the United Nations, the President-elect’s choice of one our country’s most respected and high-ranking career diplomats, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, brings tremendous depth of commitment to the importance of diplomacy, human rights, development, global health, climate change, and much more. Her track record as Ambassador to Liberia and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs gives her an invaluable perspective on today’s challenges—with particular insight into the disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in the developing world and the role of the multilateral institutions.”

On the appointment of John Kerry, a member of USGLC’s National Advisory Council, as Presidential Envoy for Climate, Schrayer asserted:

“We congratulate Secretary John Kerry, a member of USGLC’s National Advisory Council, on this newly created and important platform. As Secretary of State, Kerry transformed the debate on climate change to focus on the connection between global impacts and America’s security and economic interests—from climate-driven famine and food security to migration in the developing world hit hardest by its effects. We look forward to working with him in this new capacity.”