Religion News Service
WASHINGTON, U.S., April 2011 (Religion News Service): A New York minister will soon fill the Obama administration’s long-vacant position to oversee international religious freedom after the Senate voted to confirm the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook for the post. Thursday’s (April 14) voice vote positions Cook to become the first female and the first African-American in the post.
“I am … persuaded in my mind, heart, and soul that religious freedom is the birthright of all people everywhere; a foundation of civil society, a key to international security, and it must always be a pillar of U.S. foreign policy,” she said in a statement.
During hearings, Cook cited her travels and interfaith work on five continents and her experience as a New York police chaplain as qualifications for the ambassadorial post.