Aug 06, 2017: The US Senate has confirmed three Indian Americans picked by President Donald Trump for key governmental posts.
Neil Chatterjee was confirmed on Thursday as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which oversees electricity, natural gas, and oil at the national level. Krishna R. Urs was confirmed as the Ambassador to Peru while Vishal Amin got the post of White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.
Chatterjee will play a key role in Trump's programme to reshape energy policy, most of which is opposed by environmentalists and Democrats. He is the second Indian American to be appointed by Trump to a major regulatory position with a controversial mission.
Chatterjee held the influential position of energy policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and helped shape energy legislation. His work backed the Senator's campaign against regulations to restrict use of coal for electricity generation.
Also Read: US to probe into complaint: Does Harvard University discriminate against Indians, Asians?
Among issues he will likely deal with are Trump's plans to allow the construction of the Keystone pipeline to carry crude oil from Canada to Texas in the US, which was stopped by former President Barack Obama, and several gas pipeline projects.
Krishna Urs has been a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Madrid. Urs took over after James Costos, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, resigned.
Urs, a 30-year veteran of the foreign service was earlier the Deputy Chief of Mission in Spain. Urs, who knows Spanish, Hindi and Telugu, has specialised in economic issues and has developed extensive policy experience in the Andean region of South America, the White House said.
Vishal Amin is currently serving as a senior counsel for the US House Judiciary Committee. The IP enforcement position was created in 2008 in order to help the government combat online piracy.
Amin served in the administration of George W. Bush as the White House's associate director for domestic policy and as special assistant and associate director for policy in the United States Department of Commerce. (IANS)