Jeanne Shaheen: “Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to my colleague from Virginia, Senator Kaine. I am really pleased to join you on…”

“Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to my colleague from Virginia, Senator Kaine. I am really pleased to join you on the floor in support of Dr. Gupta to be Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues at the Department of State. Sadly, this isn't the first time that I have come to the floor to raise Dr. Gupta's nomination here with our colleagues in the Senate but also with our colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee. I have to admit that it is disappointing to still be standing here trying to convince my colleagues that women's rights matter. They matter whether they are in the United States, in Afghanistan, in Iran, in China, or in Venezuela. Partisan obstruction should not prevent a qualified nominee from undertaking the necessary work of the Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues. I have to be honest, it feels to me like what is at issue here is more than just the Office of Global Women's Issues. It feels like the Members of this body don't understand the role of that office and think that anytime there is something that has ``women'' in the title, that we must be talking about reproductive rights. Well, that is not what the Office of Global Women's Issues does.…”