Merkley Opposes Craft Confirmation as UN Ambassador

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s subcommittee overseeing the United Nations (UN), released the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm Ambassador Kelly Craft as UN Ambassador:

“At a time when climate chaos is the greatest global challenge we face, a UN Ambassador with deep personal ties to and a financial stake in the coal industry was the last choice the President should have made for this position. Our ambassador to the UN needs to be coordinating the global community to aggressively take on climate chaos before it’s too late. Instead, with Kelly Craft’s confirmation, we are sending to the UN an ambassador who will personally profit from the continued burning of fossil fuels and who infamously proclaimed about climate science that there are ‘scientists on both sides that are accurate.’

“Kelly Craft is the wrong person to lead the U.S.’s engagement with the global community at this critical juncture, and the Senate should have voted to reject her nomination and demand an appropriate nominee from President Trump. I’m disappointed by the Senate’s action today.”