Ambasssador

Ambassador's Senate Testimony

Statement of Emil Skodon -Ambassador Designate to Brunei Darussalem

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

June 21, 2005

Madam Chairperson and Members of the Committee, I am honored to come before you today as President Bush’s nominee to be the next American ambassador to Negara Brunei Darussalam. I deeply appreciate the confidence the President and Secretary Rice have shown in me in making this nomination. If confirmed by the Senate, I will work closely with the Committee, interested members of Congress, and other Americans to advance U.S. interests in Brunei.

Secretary Rice has neatly summarized our policy goals in Asia in three words: security, opportunity, and freedom. The broad range of experience I have gained during 28 years in the Foreign Service will assist me in advancing all these goals. I have served in five of the State Department’s six regional bureaus, been detailed to a military staff, and worked on issues from trade policy to political-military affairs. My overseas postings have included service in Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle-East.

Our friendly relationship with the Malay Muslim Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam presents unique opportunities to pursue U.S. policy goals in Southeast Asia. Brunei’s wealth of energy resources, location astride strategic international sea lanes, and membership in regional organizations combine to give it greater influence than its small size would suggest. Our traditionally good relations, which date from a Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Commerce and Navigation signed in 1850, have reached a new level since the Sultan of Brunei met a President of the United States in the White House for the first time in December 2002.

Brunei is a valuable partner in promoting regional stability and security. Its armed forces helped deliver relief to Aceh in the wake of last year’s tsunami, and contributed to the international monitoring team in the Philippine island of Mindanao. Brunei welcomes U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Our militaries cooperate closely in exercises and exchanges. In a concrete example of the growing relations between our two countries, the first Bruneian cadet will soon begin studying at West Point.

The name of Brunei Darussalam means "Brunei – Abode of Peace," and indeed that is what Brunei has been in a region vulnerable to international terrorism. It has a well-deserved reputation for domestic stability and a tolerant Islamic tradition, but is fully cognizant of the terrorist threat in the region.

Madam Chairperson, my experience has given me a deep appreciation of the need for strong international cooperation to counter threats from unjustified aggression and terrorism. In August of 1990, I was serving at the American Embassy in Kuwait when Iraq invaded. After an evacuation convoy under my leadership was halted in Baghdad, I was detained for 113 days as a ‘guest’ of Saddam Hussein. Eleven years later, on September 11, 2001, I was in my office in the Pentagon when Al-Qaeda terrorists flew a hijacked airliner into that building. I witnessed innocent people dying as a result of these heinous acts. I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that I never have to witness such terrible events again. If confirmed, I will vigorously support security and counterterrorism cooperation with Brunei.

Brunei’s interests are very similar to our own when it comes to expanding economic opportunity and prosperity through free trade. Brunei is a dependable oil producer and Asia’s third largest exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas, a product increasingly important to satisfying the growing Asian demand for energy.

The U.S. and Brunei have been about one half billion dollars of trade annually. We have signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, and the first meeting of the Trade and Investment Council at senior officials level was held earlier this year. If confirmed, I will build on these initiatives and work with American business to promote our economic and commercial interests.

Madam Chairperson, stability and prosperity cannot be sustained over the long term without respect for fundamental human rights and political openness. Brunei has recently taken tentative steps toward more participatory government. Last year, the Sultan reconvened the Legislative Council after 20-year suspension. The appointed members play a solely advisory role, but the Sultan has approved a constitutional amendment calling for the selection of some members of an xpanded Legislative Council.

The United States has a role in supporting Bruneians as they build their future. A delegation from Brunei, including representatives of the new Council, was recently in Washington as part of a Rule of Law Forum organized by the Southern Methodist University Law School, an initiative of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Brunei’s first Fulbright scholar in 20 years began studies in the U.S. last year. Other Bruneians have come to the United States under the auspices of the International Visitors Program, and as students. If confirmed, I will work to expand these people-to-people exchanges and to pursue other constructive measures that advance our mutual interests.

Madam Chairperson, our Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan is a small but productive post, with six American staff members and approximately three-dozen local employees. If confirmed, I will seek to manage U.S. Government resources as efficiently as possible, including through the use of new technologies and regional administrative support. I will also lead the State Department search for a new Embassy building in Brunei to replace the current, vulnerable leased commercial office. Our dedicated staff members deserve a safe and secure working environment, and if confirmed I will work to provide it to them.

Madam Chairperson, the United States has a vital interest in the future of Southeast Asia. Expanding and deepening relations with Brunei can help achieve progress toward our goals of security, opportunity, and freedom in this dynamic part of the world. If confirmed by the Senate, it will be an honor for me to lead our Embassy in Brunei Darussalam in that effort. Thank you for considering my nomination. I would be happy to respond to questions.