Thursday, December 18, 2014

U.S. Senate Confirms Blinken as Number 2 at State Department

12/18/2014

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate has confirmed Antony Blinken, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, as number two at the State Department, replacing William Burns.

With 55 votes in favor and 38 against, Blinken became on Tuesday the right hand man of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Blinken, 52, was national security aide to Vice-President Joe Biden during Obama’s first term, and served as the Democratic Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee between 2002 and 2008.

From 1994 to 2001, he was on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council staff at the White House, where he was the principal advisor for relations with the countries of Europe, the European Union and NATO.

In a statement, President Obama said, “Over decades of dedicated public service, Tony has displayed extraordinary integrity, judgment, and inclusiveness as he has implemented America’s foreign policy priorities.”


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