Today, Ambassador Samantha Power presented her credentials to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Below is a statement made by Ambassador Power prior to presenting her credentials:
Ambassador Power: Hello everybody. I’m Samantha Power. I’m totally delighted to be here-so honored, so thrilled to have started work as the U.S. Ambassador to United Nations. As many of you know, I’m going to meet with the Secretary-General so as to present my credentials. I’ve worked with the Secretary-General over the last few years at the White House-worked very effectively with him-and I’m looking very much forward to a close working relationship now that I am up here in New York.
As I make clear in my testimony before the Senate, the United Nations is critical to a range of U.S. interests, and U.S. leadership at the United Nations is indispensable to making progress on those interests. We have a lot to discuss upstairs and even more to do-whether it’s terrorism or the broader range of security concerns; mass atrocities in Syria; South Sudan; the effort to alleviate global poverty; the crackdown on civil society around the world. There are just so many issues where the United States and the United Nations have to work together to achieve progress.
Again, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to come to New York, to sit behind the placard that says the United States and very fortunate to be able to work with each of you in the months ahead. So I thank you for coming out, and I look forward to a journey together.
Thank you.
The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly issued a letter welcoming Ambassador Power to her new post. The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations looks forward to working with Ambassador Power during her term as US Representative to the United Nations.