Contact: Natalie Bell, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000, ext. 126  

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- With her recess appointment ending, Ellen R. Sauerbrey should easily be voted a permanent appointment as assistant secretary for population, refugees and migration.  Even those who originally opposed her nomination praise her 2-year stint as a State Department official who has shown leadership on the numerous fronts where refugee displacement has been at crisis point -- in countries like Nepal, Myanmar and especially in politically-charged countries like Iraq and Darfur.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye Institute and an official United States delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women when Ambassador Sauerbrey headed that program, said, "With so many hot spots around the world, the Senate would be grossly negligent of its duties if it did not appoint Ambassador Sauerbrey to the State Department assistant secretary position.  There will be a serious lack of leadership on the refugee front if that position remains vacant at a time when in one country alone -- Iraq -- there have been over 2 million refugees fleeing the turmoil and danger of that nation."

Crouse continued, "When lawmakers left Washington without acting on her nomination, they neglected their responsibilities.  More importantly, they left a huge gap in the important work of protecting refugees.  It is obvious that Mrs. Sauerbrey's support of the president's position on life issues is behind the committee's negligence in acting on her nomination. The president deserves to have appointees who agree with his positions and those people who are fleeing war-torn nations deserve to have help in resettling in safe nations."

Crouse concluded, "The Senate needs to act on Sauerbrey's nomination now; understanding the plight of refugees and helping them resettle should be a matter above petty politics. There is no way that this appointment should be held hostage to the pro-abortion activists when lives are at stake."

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.