WASHINGTON –With the appointment last week of Republican Senators, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) completes its full complement of 21 Commissioners from the House, the Senate and the Executive Branch. The Commission is responsible for monitoring implementation of human rights, security and economic commitments made by the 56 participating States of the OSCE. For over 30 years, the Commission has been a leader in defending human rights in the OSCE region which has a combined population of over one billion, and is of strategic importance to the United States given longstanding security, trade and cultural ties.
Commission Chairman Representative Chris Smith (NJ-4), citing the depth and diversity of experience of the Helsinki Commission’s Congressional and Executive Branch commissioners, said: “The Commission is well positioned to make a real difference in the lives of those deprived of their human rights and denied their human dignity. We must never lose sight of the human faces that provide the reason for our work, from victims of human trafficking and slain journalists to individuals prevented from freely professing and practicing their faith and victims of a myriad of other human rights violations. I will continue to work closely with my fellow commissioners on a robust agenda firmly rooted in protection of human dignity – the essence of authentic security.”
The Commissioners for the 112th Congress are:
U.S. House of Representatives
Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey
Chairman
Joseph R. Pitts, Pennsylvania
Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama
Phil Gingrey, Georgia
Michael C. Burgess, Texas
Alcee L. Hastings, Florida
Louise McIntosh Slaughter, New York
Mike McIntyre, North Carolina
Steve Cohen, Tennessee
U.S. Senate
Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland
Co-Chairman
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Tom Udall, New Mexico
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Roger F. Wicker, Mississippi
Saxby Chambliss, Georgia
Marco Rubio, Florida
Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire
Executive Branch
Michael H. Posner, Department of State
Michael C. Camuñez, Department of Commerce
Alexander Vershbow, Department of Defense
