Contact: Jessica Smith, (202)228-5185
Kimberly Hunter, 202-228-5258
February 6, 2009
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) was selected this week as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the 111th Congress. As chair, Senator Webb will contribute his knowledge of Asia’s commercial, political and military history to advancing the interests of both the United States and the region through hearings and oversight.
Senator Webb has enjoyed a continuous personal involvement in Asian and Pacific affairs that long predates his time in the Senate. In addition to his more recent visits as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has worked and traveled throughout this vast region, from Micronesia to Burma, for nearly four decades, as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a Department of Defense executive, and as a business consultant.
“I am honored to receive this assignment,” he said. “The United States is a Pacific nation and has vital economic and strategic interests throughout Asia. I believe we need to be more engaged in this part of the world and I look forward to doing all that I can to strengthen relations between our country and the countries in this region.”
The Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs oversees United States relations with countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Rim, and Oceana. The subcommittee also oversees regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Senator Webb served as an infantry Marine in Vietnam, and later as assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy in the Pentagon. He also served as an Asia-Pacific regional military planner in Guam, has written extensively on local, national and international issues in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, and in the 1990's worked as a consultant for companies wishing to do business in Vietnam. He has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since joining the US Senate in January 2007.
