Jeanne Shaheen: “I come to the floor today, Mr. President, to support the nomination of David Kostelancik to be U.S. Ambassador to…”

“I come to the floor today, Mr. President, to support the nomination of David Kostelancik to be U.S. Ambassador to Albania. For over 35 years, Mr. Kostelancik has served as a career member of the Foreign Service and a qualified and exemplary candidate to represent the United States in an allied capital. He also served in Congress as the senior State Department adviser to the Helsinki Commission. Like so many of our career Foreign Service officers, Mr. Kostelancik has dedicated his career to serving the United States at home and abroad. He served in Albania before, as well as overseas assignments in Turkiye, Russia, and Hungary, where he led our Embassy as Charge d'Affaires for nearly 2 years. Most recently, he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. It is clear that we have a highly qualified candidate to serve as Ambassador to Albania. But I also want to talk about why it is so critical that we confirm an ambassador to Albania and that we do it without delay. Albania is a real success story for American foreign policy. Just 30 years ago, Albania was waking up from more than four decades of communist rule. Today, Albania is a flourishing democracy, a fully engaged member of NATO, and an aspiring member of the European Union. It was Albania in 2016 that answered our calls to take in vulnerable Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf.…”