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United States diplomat From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom is the ambassador-at-large who heads the Office of International Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of State.
Ambassador at Large of the United States for International Religious Freedom | |
---|---|
Appointer | The President with the advice and consent of the Senate |
Inaugural holder | Robert A. Seiple |
Formation | 1999 |
Website | Office of International Religious Freedom |
The position was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The first ambassador at large was Bob Seiple[1] who served from 1999 to 2001. He was succeeded by John Hanford[2] who served from May 2002 until January 2009. Suzan Johnson Cook served in the role from May 2011 to October 2013.[3] On July 28, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Rabbi David Saperstein for the position. On December 15, 2014, the Senate confirmed him to the office, making him the first non-Christian to hold this post.[4][5][6]
On July 26, 2017, the White House announced the nomination of Sam Brownback, then-Governor of Kansas to fill the vacancy in the office.[7] Five months later, the Senate had yet to hold a confirmation vote, so per Senate rules, he was required to be nominated again in 2018 in order for a vote to be held.[8] He was confirmed to the position on January 24, 2018, on a 49–49 vote of the Senate, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie in favor of Brownback.[9]
# | Image | Name | Appointment | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert A. Seiple | 1999 | 2001 | |
2 | John Hanford | 2002 | 2009 | |
3 | Suzan Johnson Cook | 2011 | 2013 | |
4 | David Saperstein | 2015 | 2017 | |
5 | Sam Brownback | 2018 | 2021 | |
6 | Rashad Hussain[10] | 2022 | incumbent |
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