This issue came to my attention, via an article in Foreign Policy. Here is an excerpt from that piece:
Almost one and a half years into its term, the Obama administration still has yet to even announce the nomination of an IRF Ambassador (as the position is known in the State Department lexicon). In recent months, a growing chorus of disparate voices — including Members of Congress, a bipartisan and multi-faith group of religious leaders and human rights activists, an government commission, an independent study task force, and scholars such as my former colleague Tom Farr here in the pages of Foreign Policy — have all urged the administration to move expeditiously in finally filling the position after 16 months of vacancy. Even if a nominee is announced soon, it could be many more months until the ambassador is sworn in, depending on the vicissitudes of the Senate confirmation schedule. It may well be that President Obama reaches the halfway mark of his term without an IRF ambassador on board.
As the article goes on to state, President Obama has certainly had the time to fill the IRF spot. A plethora of other positions have been filled. At this point in the presidency, a big question mark is beginning to appear: Why is the President ignoring International Religious Freedom? Consider this troubling remark from the Foreign Policy article: [Read more…] about International Religious Freedom has no Ambassador… Why?