Foreign aid subpanel chairman Tim Kaine meets with UN leadership

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the former governor who now chairs the Senate subpanel on foreign aid and international development, is in New York for two days of meetings with the United Nations leadership.

Kaine met with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice as well as with other top U.S. and U.N. officials on Tuesday for briefings on the situation in Syria, Iran and North Korea. Kaine is scheduled to attend Wednesday's U.N. Security Council session on countering the Lord's Resistance Army in central Africa and adopting a new mandate for the U.N. force monitoring the troubled buffer zone between Sudan and South Sudan in Abyei.

“My visit to the UN offered an important opportunity to learn more about the U.S. Mission’s recent accomplishments, including support for the strongest sanctions ever against Iran and North Korea and a sustained defense of Israel,” Kaine said in a statement. “As the Assad government continues to slaughter its own people in Syria, it’s critical that we understand the role the UN can play in promoting a negotiated, peaceful and inclusive political transition.”

Kaine also talked about the U.N.’s efforts to promote sustainable international development during his visit with Ban. And he received a briefing from the U.S. Representative to the U.N. for U.N. Management and Reform, Joseph Torsella, on the U.S. Mission’s reform agenda to improve the effectiveness of U.N. engagement around the world.

Kaine joined 14 other members of the Senate Foreign Relations panel last week in voting to authorize U.S. arms for vetted rebel groups battling Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in Syria. The administration has so far balked at providing weapons that could end up in the hands of Islamist militants.

###