President Trump will nominate Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to serve as the State Department’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom, the White House announced Wednesday.
Mr. Brownback, a Republican who has served as governor since 2011, was a proponent of religious freedom during his nearly two decades in Congress, sponsoring the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Brownback will head the Office of International Religious Freedom at the State Department. Back in Topeka, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer would automatically become the state’s chief executive.
Maureen Ferguson, senior policy adviser for the Catholic Association, applauded the pick, calling Mr. Brownback’s commitment to religious freedom “unquestioned.”
“At a time when there is an ongoing genocide of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, we hope and pray the Senate will act with urgency in a bipartisan fashion and immediately confirm Gov. Brownback,” she said in a statement.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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