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Sen. Cardin starts off hearings on Obama's 'pivot to Asia' with focus on human rights
The new leader of the Senate Foreign Relations panel on East Asia set the tone for his chairmanship by starting off a series of hearings on President Obama's “pivot to Asia” Thursday with a focus on human rights.
Lawmakers have been probing the strategic and business repercussions of the president's priorities for the past few years, but Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) brings a different perspective. He championed last year's Russia human rights sanctions bill in the Senate and pushed for U.S. foreign aid programs to make gender equity a priority when he chaired the subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance in the last Congress.
“We must remember as we 'rebalance to Asia' that the fundamental respect for the human rights of every person, every woman, man and child, is the underpinning to security and prosperity,” Cardin said in his opening statement Thursday. “Good governance which includes a respect for human rights is key to economic growth.”
Acting Secretary of State for East Asia Joseph Yun said the administration shared Cardin's priorities.
“While the rebalance reflects the importance the U.S. government places on our strategic and economic engagement in the Asia-Pacific,” he said, “the dimension that binds the entire strategy together is our strong support for advancing democracy and human rights.”
“As the president also made clear, there is still a long road ahead,” he said. “That is why we are focused on helping Burma solidify the progress it has made so far and strengthen the hand of those seeking further reform, so that that process becomes irreversible.”
Cardin said helping Burma have free and fair elections in 2015 will be a “top U.S. government priority.”
