Tag Archives: Michele J. Sison

Senate Confirms Goldberg, Hale, Sison, Smith For Personal Rank of Career Ambassador

September 11, 2018 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Foreign Service, FSOs, Pompeo, Trump Tags: , , , ,

On July 18, President Trump sent the nomination of four career diplomats for the personal rank of Career Ambassador to the U.S. Senate. The nominations have been placed on the Senate Executive Calendar on July 26.

The following-named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the Department of State for the personal rank of Career Ambassador in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period:

  • Philip S. Goldberg, of DC
  • David M. Hale, of NJ
  • Michele Jeanne Sison, of MD
  • Daniel Bennett Smith, of VA

See: Trump Nominates Goldberg, Hale, Sison, and Smith For Personal Rank of Career Ambassador

On September 6, the U.S. Senate confirmed the four nominations and the State Department has its first Career Ambassadors under this administration.

2018-09-06 PN2319 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Philip S. Goldberg, and ending Daniel Bennett Smith, which 4 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on July 18, 2018.

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Nomination: Ambassador Michele Jeanne Sison to be U.S. Ambassador to Haiti

July 24, 2017 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FSOs, Nominations, Officially In, Trump, UN Tags: , , ,

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On July 20, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Ambassador Michele Sison to be the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. The WH released a brief bio:

Michele Jeanne Sison of Maryland to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Haiti.  Ms. Sison, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, has served as an American diplomat since 1982.  She currently serves as Deputy Permanent Representative at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, a position she has held since 2014.  A three-time Ambassador, Ms. Sison has been a leader, policymaker, and manager of complex programs in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and in Washington, D.C.  She has served at eleven U.S. Missions overseas and in senior leadership positions at the Department of State.  Ms. Sison earned a B.A. from Wellesley College.  She speaks fluent French and basic Haitian Creole and Arabic.

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Senate Confirmations 11/19: Cormack, Mustard, Miller, Cefkin, Yamate, Sison

November 20, 2014 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Congress, Foreign Service, FSOs, Nominations, Obama, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

— Domani Spero
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For the third day in a row after returning to a lame duck session, the Senate confirmed a few more nominations that had been pending for months on end waiting for the Senators to get their act together.

On Wednesday, November 19, the following nominations were finally confirmed by voice vote:

  • Maureen Elizabeth Cormack, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Allan P. Mustard, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Turkmenistan
  • Earl Robert Miller, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Botswana
  •  Judith Beth Cefkin, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Fiji, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Tuvalu
  • Robert T. Yamate, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Madagascar, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Union of the Comoros
  • Michele Jeanne Sison, to be the Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and the Deputy Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations
  • Michele Jeanne Sison, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, during her tenure of service as Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations

Six more ambassadorial nominations, all career diplomats are scheduled for a voice vote today, November 20.

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US Embassy Colombo Tweets Photo, Protesters Show Up

January 15, 2014 By in Ambassadors, Countries 'n Regions, Photo of the Day, Protests, Social Media, State Department, U.S. Missions, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

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— Domani Spero

On January 12, The US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka released a statement about US Ambassador at-Large for War Crimes Stephan J. Rapp’s visit to the country:

Ambassador Stephen J. Rapp visited Sri Lanka from January 6-11 to meet with government and political leaders, civil society, and to tour former conflict zones.  He heard about the progress made since the conflict, but also the Sri Lankan people’s continuing desire for reconciliation, justice and accountability.

During Ambassador Rapp’s discussions, he listened to eyewitness accounts about serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those that occurred at the end of the war. In that context the government of the United States encourages the government of Sri Lanka to seek the truth through independent and credible investigations, and where relevant, have prosecutions.

Below is the photo that the Embassy Colombo tweeted of  Ambassador Rapp  with US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison visiting St. Anthony’s ground near Putumatalan last week.  We hope we won’t hear this week that this is a “rogue” tweet.

Screen Shot 2014-01-12

Ambassador Sisson and Stephan J. Rapp, US Ambassador at-Large for War Crimes, at St. Anthony’s ground near Putumatalan in Puthukkudiyirippu, northern Sri Lanka

The photo above is reportedly the site where the Sri Lankan army killed hundreds of families towards the end of the civil war in 2009. Last Thursday, protesters in Colombo marched to the U.S. Embassy. Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister Prof.G.L.Peiris had also protested over the “unconventional news leads.”

Read more Fury in Sri Lanka at US Embassy Tweet on Killing of Tamils via NYT. From 2009, via CSM — How will Sri Lanka reconcile after a bitter war?

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SFRC Hearings This Wednesday – McGurk, Sison and Elliot

June 5, 2012 By in Hearings, Nominations, SFRC Tags: , , , , ,

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will have the confirmation hearings of the ambassadorial nominees for Iraq, Tajikistan and the Maldives on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 10 am at Senate Dirksen 419.

The nominees scheduled to appear before the SFRC are:

  • The Honorable Michele Jeanne Sison
    of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and to serve concurrently as
    Ambassador to the Republic of Maldives
  • Mr. Brett H. McGurk
    of Connecticut, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq
  • Ms. Susan Marsh Elliott
    of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Tajikistan

Videos and prepared testimonies of the nominees will be available here hopefully by Wednesday.

Domani Spero

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Officially In: Michele J. Sison, from Iraq to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

March 29, 2012 By in Ambassadors, FSOs, Nominations, Officially In Tags: , ,

On March 26, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Ambassador Michele J. Sison as the next Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives. The WH released the following brief bio:

Ambassador Michele J. Sison, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is currently the Assistant Chief of Mission for Law Enforcement and Rule of Law Assistance in Baghdad, Iraq.  From 2008 to 2010, she was Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon.  She was Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2004 to 2008 and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs from 2002 to 2004.  Ambassador Sison’s prior assignments include:  Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; Consul General in Chennai, India; Consul General in Douala, Cameroon; and Director of Career Development and Assignments in the Department of State’s Bureau of Human Resources.  Additional overseas assignments include roles at the U.S. Embassies in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, and Haiti.

Ambassador Sison received a B.A. from Wellesley College.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele J. Sison (second from right) inspects a new Harley Davidson police motorcycle with Lebanese ISF commanders at the U.S. Embassy Beirut, May 18, 2010. (State Department Photo)

If confirmed, Ambassador Sison would succeed career diplomat, Patricia A. Butenis who was appointed to Sri Lanka and the Maldives (based in Colombo) in 2009.  A brief piece in State’s Asian Pacific Heritage Month in 2010 says that Ambassador Sison is a proud Filipino-American, with family roots in Lingayen, Pangasinan, in the Philippines. Born in Virginia, Ambassador Sison earned her B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College. She joined the Foreign Service in 1982. She is the recipient of numerous U.S. Department of State awards for exceptional service as well as the Presidential Meritorious Service Award.

Domani Spero

Related item:

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts | March 26. 2012


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