Senator Says Hagerty Will Represent the “Very Best of Our Country” in Japan
WASHINGTON – At a hearing today considering the nomination of William Hagerty of Tennessee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Japan, U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the following remarks in support of the nomination. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced Mr. Hagerty to members of the committee.
“I think [Senator Lamar Alexander] has done an outstanding job of laying out these credentials, and I agree that you are one of the most outstanding appointments that President Trump has made.
“The relationship between our two countries speaks for itself, and having [Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo] Abe here as one of the first visitors, I think, speaks to how the Trump administration and our country feel about Japan.
“I do want to say that the ambassador [of Japan], Ambassador Sasae, is here with us, a friend, someone that we work with constantly. We welcome him here to this hearing.
“To my friends here, I will speak on a little different level about this nominee. I have seen him in business and the outstanding things that he has done there.
“I have seen him represent our state and cause it to be the most important state relative to job creation in our country and the most heralded.
“I have seen him come into an administration that had some really tough issues and clean up that needed to be done on some economic issues, and I’ve seen him negotiate those in an appropriate and steadfast manner, while at the same time bringing people together.
“I know his family. I know Lamar mentioned the Boy Scout issues.
“I was with Bill recently when he was at a weekend boy scout event, and it rained the entire weekend and he looked pretty haggardly – a little different than he does today – but he is an outstanding family person. He and his wife, Chrissy, actually met in Japan. So they’re homecoming back to the country in which they met, where he will be heralded much in the way Howard Baker was when he came.
“I visited Japan when Senator Baker was our ambassador, and I saw the tremendous ties between our countries.
“And the fact is that Tennessee is a place that has a very warm spot in Japanese hearts. It really does.
“And I think that Bill Hagerty – as good a job as Senator Baker did, and we were all so proud of his service – I have a feeling that Bill Hagerty is going to raise the bar.
“So, I am really, really proud of this nomination and so glad that I believe he will be ascending to this position quickly. And I know that he will represent the very best of country.”
Click here for complete testimony and video footage of the hearing.
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