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“NOTICE OF INTENT TO OBJECT TO PROCEEDING” mentioning Chuck Grassley was published in the Senate section on pages S2133-S2134 on April 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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The publication is reproduced in full below:
NOTICE OF INTENT TO OBJECT TO PROCEEDING
I, Senator Charles E. Grassley, intend to object to proceeding to the nomination of Samantha Power, of Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, dated April 21, 2021.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I intend to object to any unanimous consent request relating to the nomination of Samantha Power to be director of the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) (PN 114).
Throughout the 116th Congress, I conducted an investigation that found that a non-profit organization transferred funds to an entity known as the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA). This entity had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department for helping funnel funds to terrorists and terrorist organizations including Osama Bin Laden. During this investigation we came across redacted State Department emails that imply that, while she was Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power worked through back channels to trigger a Treasury review of ISRA's sanctioned status in an effort to have them delisted.
In an effort to have these emails un-redacted and better understand Ms. Power's involvement in what could be an alarming abuse of power, I sent a letter to Ms. Power and USAID requesting information on February 18, 2021. Ms. Power responded to my letter on March 23, 2021, the date of her committee hearing, but failed to answer the questions or provide the un-redacted versions of these emails. On March 31, 2021, I sent a second letter to Ms. Power urging her to fully respond to my initial letter. I have yet to receive a response.
Unfortunately, due to Ms. Power's lack of transparency, I must object to any consideration of this nomination. I cannot in good conscience vote for Ms. Power until I have received a full response to the questions posed in my letter, reviewed the un-redacted versions of these emails, and confirmed that she did not attempt to utilize her office to delist ISRA through back channels.
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