SFRC Advances Department of State Authorization Act, Shaheen Priorities Clear Key Committee Hurdle
**Shaheen is a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee**
(Washington, DC) - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of State Authorization Act of 2023 was voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with Shaheen's support.
“I’m proud to have helped advance this key legislation, which is critical to maintaining and improving operations at the State Department,” said Shaheen. “The investments Congress makes in this bill help shape the State Department’s national security priorities and ensures proper Congressional oversight over the Department’s programming.”
Improving the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program
Shaheen successfully secured several key priorities in the legislation, including an amendment that would require the Department of State to submit to Congress a strategy for processing the backlog of applications for the Afghan SIV Program. A leader in Congress on support for those who served the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, Shaheen has long led on efforts to reform and improve the Afghan SIV program, having partnered with the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to protect Afghans who risked their lives to support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Last month, Shaheen introduced the bipartisan Afghan Allies Protection Act to address systematic problems with Afghan SIV process. This bill is a follow up to Shaheen’s comprehensive report on the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program released last year, which uncovered several systematic problems. Shaheen successfully broke through a standstill over authorization for the Afghan SIV program last year when she fought to secure an extension of the program and to procure additional visas in the government funding bill for fiscal year 2023 that was signed into law. She has led bipartisan efforts in Congress to reauthorize additional Afghan SIVs – her bipartisan legislation to that end with Senator Ernst (R-IA) was signed into law in 2021 amid U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan following consistent calls from Shaheen to improve the pathway to safety for Afghan allies.
Codifying the Office of Global Women’s Issues
Shaheen secured an amendment to codify the Office of Global Women's Issues at the Department of State. Shaheen led efforts in the Senate to confirm the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, earlier this year, overcoming more than 18 months of Republican obstructionism.
Supporting a Free and Democratic Belarus
Shaheen also included an amendment that would codify the role of Special Envoy to Belarus, ensuring the U.S. maintains diplomatic relations with the pro-democracy movement inside the country. This comes on the heels of Shaheen leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to the NATO Summit in Vilnius, where she met with Belarusian pro-democracy leader Svitlana Tsikhanouskaya and reaffirmed the United States' strong support for a free future for Belarus. Shaheen has long advocated for the appointment of a Special Envoy to Belarus. In 2021, Shaheen, alongside Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) launched the bipartisan Free Belarus Caucus following the Senators’ meeting with Tsikhanouskaya. Shaheen and Wicker also led a bipartisan resolution that reaffirms U.S. support for the Belarusian pro-democracy movement, which unanimously cleared the Senate last year.
Strengthening U.S.-EU Trade Ties
Shaheen also secured language that would support efforts to strengthen the United States-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC), which contributes to enhanced coordination on trade and technology policy between the U.S. and EU. This amendment follows a hearing that Shaheen chaired for the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee on China's growing economic and security presence in Europe.
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