Sununu Visits United Nations
By Thomas Rains
WASHINGTON – New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu kicked off his year-long appointment as a congressional delegate to the United Nations Tuesday by attending the opening of debate at the 59th U.N. General Assembly in New York City, listening to President Bush’s speech and meeting with several international figures.
Calling the speech “very well received,” Sununu said in a phone interview Tuesday that the president was “able to connect with the international representation” in the United Nations to discuss the importance of establishing a representational Iraqi government that respects, among other things, “liberty and religious tolerance.”
Last week the Granite State Republican said through a press release that “the international community continues to face complex issues, and the United Nations remains an important organization to facilitate global cooperation.”
While Sununu said Tuesday that he has not “set out any formal time table,” he will have the opportunity to meet with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City and speak with them about priority issues over the course of the next year.
“New Hampshire being fairly close to New York City,” he said, “I think I will have the opportunity to visit several more times in the coming year.”
The senator said these priority missions range from humanitarian efforts in Sudan to management reform within the United Nations itself.
On Tuesday Sununu began discussing these issues with key figures at the United Nations. He had several meetings that included a “very good briefing” by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John C. Danforth on reform efforts underway in the United Nations and a meeting with undersecretary-general for management Catherine Bertini, who is in charge of the U.N.’s budget and capital master plan.
Sununu also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, whose country is “more involved than any of Sudan’s [other] neighbors in facilitating a peace process” and bringing an end to the civil war there.
Sununu and Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy were nominated by the president on Sep. 13 to serve as congressional members of the U.S. delegation. The junior senator from New Hampshire called this an “honor,” in the release last week.
According to Foreign Relations Committee press secretary Andy Fisher, Sununu was confirmed by the committee and then the Senate on Monday.
Leahy, who served as a U.N. congressional delegate in 1994, is frequently at odds with the Bush Administration, but Sununu said the Vermont Democrat’s experience has been an asset.
“He’s been very helpful to me in understanding what our role is and what the opportunities are,” Sununu said.
Sununu and Leahy were recommended to the president for nomination by Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and senior committee Democrat Joseph Biden, D-Del.
Fisher said Lugar’s first choice for the position was Sununu – mainly because of his chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism. Because of this, Fisher said, the position would be “particularly important” to Sununu.
Each year one Republican and one Democratic member of Congress are picked to serve as delegates to the UN General Assembly, according to Fisher. While not legally required, the delegates alternate annually between Senate and House members. Last year, Reps. Donald M. Payne, D-N.J., and Amo Houghton Jr., R-N.Y., served as delegates.
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