Washington, DC — The U.S. Senate has approved the nomination of Constance Berry Newman to become the next assistant secretary for African Affairs in the State Department, a senior administration policymaking post.
Newman, who was nominated by President George W. Bush in March, is currently in charge of Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She will succeed Charles Snyder, who has been acting assistant secretary since the departure of Walter Kansteiner last November. Senate approval by voice vote late Thursday came as a result of a deal between Senate Democrats and the White House over judicial and other nominations. Three judicial nominees and one U.S. district attorney were confirmed at the same time.
The head of the Africa Bureau at the State Department plays a key role in U.S. policymaking for sub-Saharan Africa. On Capitol Hill, the six-month absence of a confirmed assistant secretary has been partially blamed for what is seen as a reduction in focus by the Bush administration on several Africa-related initiatives. Heading the list is extension and expansion of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which has been a policy priority in the Clinton and Bush administrations but is caught up in the legislative logjam created by partisan disputes between Senate Republicans and Democrats.
During the presidency of George H.W. Bush from 1989-1992, Newman served as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and as director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. She is not expected to formally assume her new post until after next week's G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia. In the run-up to the meeting, Newman has been serving as chief aide to Gary Edson, who directs International Economic Affairs at the White House and is President Bush's chief G8 aide, one of the so-called 'sherpas' who represent each head of state in setting the summit agenda.
Coinciding with the leadership change at State is the departure of another Africa policy principal, the senior director for Africa at the National Security Council. Jendayi Frazer, who is leaving the White House post to become U.S. ambassador to South Africa, is slated to be replaced by her former deputy, Cindy Courville, an Africa specialist at the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Pentagon with a PhD. from the University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies.
Frazer and six other nominees for ambassadorial posts in Africa won Senate confirmation last month. They included the selections for long-standing vacancies in Nigeria and Chad, along with new appointments for Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Cote d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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At the State Department, Snyder is expected to return to his previous position as principal deputy assistant secretary for African Affairs, where his long tenure in the bureau will provide continuity. Pamela Bridgewater, the deputy assistant secretary in charge of West Africa as well as the Bureau's public outreach, is leaving in August to become diplomat in residence at Howard University.
The delay in Senate action on the Growth and Opportunity Act has raised alarm bells among supporters of the legislation. "Congress Fiddles, Africa Starves" was the headline in a call to action issued yesterday by the Agoa3 Action Committee, a coalition of business, religious and Africa-focused groups pressing Congress for a three-year extension. Failure to act will result in the loss of thousands of jobs and economically crucial investment deals in several African countries, these supporters say.
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