29 August, 2017
In a letter to the US Senate, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the restructuring would ensure State Department resources were being used effectively. In a letter to Bob Corker, the Chairman of the of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Tillerson cited concern about the proliferation of 70 special envoys positions in recent decades, including positions set up years ago to promote peace in Ireland and restore diplomatic relations with Burma.
According to Tillerson, his proposals on abolishing the office of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan will involve removing the title and sustaining the realignment of nine positions and United States dollars 1,985,000 in support costs. The envoy monitors acts of anti-Semitism overseas, documents the cases in State Department reports, and consults with domestic and global nongovernmental organizations.
Congress members, Jewish groups and Jewish leaders have been urging Tillerson to keep the office open and name an envoy. "In some cases, the State Department would leave in place several positions and offices, while in other cases, positions and offices would be either consolidated or integrated with the most appropriate bureau".
Envoys for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Holocaust issues, religious freedom and LGBT rights will remain intact but the coordinator for Iran nuclear implementation and the coordinator for sanctions policy will be slashed along with special emissaries for Afghanistan-Pakistan, disability rights and closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities and the U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, which includes the world's Islamic states, will also be eliminated.
Last February, 12 Congressmen including senators and representatives have called on President Donald Trump to appoint a special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan to back the regional efforts for peace in the two countries.
