(Archived Content)
TG-518
– As Prepared for Delivery U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Chairman Menendez, Senator Corker and members of the Committee, I am both honored and grateful for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am likewise honored to have been nominated by President Obama to be the U.S. Executive Director for the African Development Bank (AfDB).With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to pause to recognize members of my family who I am honored to have here with me today. My wife, Dr. Angela Patterson-Jones, is an Attending Neonatologist physician at the Washington Hospital Center where she has cared for and healed the most frail and vulnerable among us. I am likewise pleased to be joined by my daughter, Alexandra Jones, and by my son, Brendon Jones, who have both brought my wife and me countless hours of joy and love.
With us also is my father-in-law, Mr. Doward Patterson, a chemist from Baltimore, MD who for 43 years was the Manager of the Clinical Pathology Department at Sinai Hospital's pathology lab, and my mother-in-law, Helen Patterson, who worked in the Baltimore City Public School system for 30 years and was the Coordinator of Special Pupil Services. My parents, Ambassador William B. Jones, a retired Career Foreign Service Officer, and Attorney Joanne F. Jones, were, unfortunately, unable to be with us today although more than three decades ago, my father came before this same Committee to testify first as President Nixon's nominee to be the U.S. Permanent Representative to UNESCO in Paris, and later as President Carter's choice to be the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti.
For me, testifying before you today represents two personally symbolic milestones. Very early in my career I had the great honor to work with this Committee as a Legislative Assistant for former Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes. Whereas I am now appearing before you as a nominee, I once sat in that back row of chairs assisting the Senator and bearing witness to hearings addressing some of the most important issues of the day.
Equally symbolic for me is my appearance before you as the nominee to the African Development Bank. If I am fortunate to be confirmed by the Senate, I will be returning to work on the continent where I began much of my professional work in international development and business. My involvement in business transactions and projects worldwide have enabled me to see the continent's challenges and attributes within a broader, more competitive global context. Conversely, my extensive experience in many African countries gives me an intimate appreciation for the continent's great promise and hope.
Africa is a continent in transition and over the years I have been fortunate to experience some of that transition first-hand. Whether it was seeing the waning years of apartheid while staying in a Johannesburg township, or years later returning to that same site only this time in an official capacity representing the United States Government on an investment and trade mission. I have also worked on several business deals in all corners of Africa in places such as Ghana, Angola, Kenya, Morocco and elsewhere. I was also fortunate to have helped organize and lead an Overseas Private Investment Corporation-sponsored investment mission to Tunisia, where the AfDB is now temporarily based.
The African Development Bank itself is uniquely positioned to assist both the African public and private sectors. The United States can assist the AfDB to achieve these goals by helping it to promote good governance, corporate responsibility and transparency throughout the continent, and assisting the AfDB to become a model of efficiency and institutional effectiveness. During his trip to Africa, President Obama stressed the need for Africa and Africans to take charge of their future and to find locally-based solutions. If confirmed by the Senate, I would look forward to helping the AfDB play an integral role in fulfilling these sound objectives, and becoming an essential component of those locally-based solutions.
I am honored to have been nominated by President Obama and, if confirmed, I look forward to the privilege of representing our country at the African Development Bank.
Chairman Menendez, Senator Corker and other members of the Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and would be pleased to answer any questions that the Committee may have.
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