Trump Administration Should Affirm Key Role of State Department’s Refugee Bureau
As the Administration considers reorganization of the government, more than 40 former U.S. diplomats and national security officials who have served in Republican and Democratic administrations along with 18 humanitarian organization leaders called on the Trump administration to affirm the key role of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). The letter was delivered to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier today, with copies sent to leadership on Capitol Hill. A copy of the letter is below.
Some of the most respected U.S. diplomats and national security officials signed onto the letter, including former Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and former Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross. The letter is noteworthy for the diversity of its signatories, which included former defense and intelligence officials and leaders of humanitarian agencies, including many faith-based organizations. It also included former prominent political appointees from both Republican and Democratic administrations who were involved in human rights and humanitarian issues, such as Lorne Craner, Will Taft, Arthur “Gene” Dewey, Ellen Sauerbrey, and David Kramer (all from Republican presidential administrations) and Wendy Sherman, Eric Schwartz, Ellen Laipson, Frederick Barton, and Anne Richard (all from Democratic presidential administrations). See the full list of signers below.
The letter comes in reaction to a leaked proposal from the White House Domestic Policy Council proposing elimination of the Bureau, which the signers write “would have profound and negative implications for the Secretary of State’s capacity to influence policy issues of key concern to the United States.”
The letter comes at a time when world displacement is at the highest level ever recorded, which underscores the critical importance of U.S. capacity to address global humanitarian needs. In this respect, the letter states, “the Trump administration is very fortunate to have been extremely well-served by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. The PRM Bureau plays, in effective partnership with USAID, a key role in promoting U.S. humanitarian and foreign policy interests, and has been an extraordinarily valuable tool for the Department of State and the Secretary of State – now and over the past decades.”
LIST OF LETTER SIGNERS
Former Government Officials:
Frederick D. Barton, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations, former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, and former Director, Office of Transition Initiatives, US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Robert M. Beecroft, Former Head of Mission, OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Rand Beers, Former Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
Mark Bellamy, Former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Daniel Benjamin, Former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Robert Blake, Former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia and to Sri Lanka and the Maldives
Barbara Bodine, Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen
Mark Brzezinski, Former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden and former National Security Council Director for Russian/Eurasian Affairs and Southeast European Affairs
Reuben Brigety, Former U.S. Ambassador to the African Union
Nicholas Burns, Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and to Greece, and former Special Assistant to the President and Senior NSC Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
William J. Burns, Former Deputy Secretary of State, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and to Jordan
Lorne Craner, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and former Member, National Security Council Staff
Ryan Crocker, Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait and Lebanon and Member of the Board, Mercy Corps
Sheba Crocker, Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
James Cunningham, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to Afghanistan and to Israel
Mary Curtin, Former Political Counselor, US Mission to the European Union
Jeffrey Davidow, Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Venezuela and Zambia and former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Arthur “Gene” Dewey, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
James I. Gadsden, Former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs
Jean Geran, Former National Security Council Director for Democracy and Human Rights
Jeremy Konyndyk, Former Director, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Gordon Gray, Former U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia and former Director, State Department Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations
Victoria K. Holt, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
Elise Jordan, Former National Security Council Director for Communications
David Kramer, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Daniel C. Kurtzer, Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel
Mark P. Lagon, Former Ambassador-at-Large to Combat Trafficking in Persons
Frank Loy, Former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs
Princeton Lyman, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and South Africa, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, and former Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan
Phyllis Oakley, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration and former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Lynn Pascoe, Former US Ambassador to Malaysia and Indonesia and former UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs
James Purcell, Former Director, Bureau of Refugee Program and former Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Nancy Ely-Raphel, Former U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia Former Coordinator for the Balkans, U.S. Department of State
Anne C. Richard, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration and former Director, Secretary of State’s Office of Resources, Plans and Policy
Dennis Ross, Former Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for the Central Region, former special Middle East Coordinator, and former Director, Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State
Ellen Sauerbrey, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
Teresita Schaffer, Former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka
Kori Schake, Former Deputy Director for Policy Planning, Department of State and former National Security Council Director for Defense Strategy and Requirements
Wendy Sherman, Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
William H. Taft, Former Legal Advisor, Department of State and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense
Sam Witten, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration and former State Department Deputy Legal Advisor
Representatives of Non-governmental Organizations:
T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Director, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, The New School, former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees and former General Counsel, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Justice
Scott Arbeiter, President World Relief
Dr. Georgette F. Bennett, Founder, Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees
Linda Hartke, President and CEO, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Rebecca Heller, Director, International Refugee Assistance Project
Mark Hetfield, President and CEO HIAS
Erol Kekic, Executive Director, Immigration and Refugee Program, Church World Service
Anwar Khan, CEO, Islamic Relief USA
Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO, Mercy Corps
Lavinia Limon, President and CEO, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
Elisa Massimino, President and CEO, Human Rights First
Carolyn Miles, President and CEO, Save the Children
David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee
David Ray, Vice President for Global Advocacy, CARE USA
David M. Robinson, Executive Director, Jesuit Refugee Service USA and former Assistant Secretary of State, Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Eric P. Schwartz, President, Refugees International, former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, and former Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs
The Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson, Director, Episcopal Migration Ministries
Tsehaye Teferra, President and CEO, Ethiopian Community Development Council
Wendy Young, President, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
Additional Recipients of the Letter:
Senator Bob Corker, Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Lindsey Graham, Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Senator Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Representative Ed Royce, Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee
Representative Eliot Engel, Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee
Representative. Hal Rogers, Chair. House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Representative Nita Lowey, Ranking Member, House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
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