Feb 22, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2010

WASHINGTON D.C.- Jackie Wolcott, a former ambassador to the United Nations Security Council, has been named Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), it was announced today.

"USCIRF is pleased to welcome Ambassador Wolcott as its new Executive Director. Her more than 20 years of experience as a senior officer at the State Department, as a U.S. representative at the United Nations, and as a former Capitol Hill staffer has prepared her very well to help lead the Commission in its efforts to make freedom of religion a more important aspect of our country's foreign policy, national security, and economic development objectives," said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair.

Ambassador Wolcott served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organizations at the U.S. Department of State from 1990-1993 and 2001-2003, and as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Security Council from 2006-2008. She served as Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and was Ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 2003-2006.

"The United States plays a unique and critical role in promoting human rights in the world today. Religious freedom is so inherent to Americans, but this basic human right is under assault in many parts of the world. I am honored and pleased to be joining the outstanding efforts of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to assure that the millions of people who are denied religious freedom have a voice and are represented in the foreign policy considerations of our own government," said Wolcott.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF commissioners are appointed by the president and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF"s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected], or (202) 523-3257