The Senate confirmation hearing for Rep. Elise Stefanik, US President Donald Trump's nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations, was held today (Tuesday).
In her remarks to the committee, Stefanik highlighted her efforts to combat antisemitism on American college campuses following the October 7 massacre. "My oversight work led to the most viewed testimony in the history of Congress. This hearing with university presidents was heard around the world and viewed billions of times because it exposed the antisemitic rot in colleges and universities and was a watershed moment in American higher education."
She stated that "When discussing this nomination with President Trump, the President shared with me that he sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security. President Trump has long advocated for peace and no new wars. He delivered the Abraham Accords, the largest step to regional peace in the Middle East in a quarter century."
"If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our mission to the United Nations serves the interests of the American people and represents President Trump's America-first peace through strength foreign policy."
Stefanik noted that there are "hostages, including Americans, still held in Hamas' captivity," stating that "it has never been more critical for the United States to lead with strength and moral clarity. This is especially important regarding our most precious ally Israel, who faced the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7th, 2023."
She called for reform at the UN to ensure that the organization lives up to its founding principles and for the establishment of an "Abraham Accords Caucus" at the UN "to build on President [Trump's] success delivering that historic result."
During her questioning, Stefanik called out the "antisemitic rot within the United Nations."
"There are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis, combined," she said calling out UN Women for "failing to condemn Hamas' terrorist attack and terrorist regime against innocent civilian women, using rape and targeting women specifically, taking them hostage."
"We need to be a voice of moral clarity on the UN Security Council and at the United Nations at large for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel. And I intend to do that," she said.
When asked about how the US should deal with UNRWA, Stefanik said, "We should never tolerate any US taxpayer funds going towards terrorism ... I was one of the ranking members who voted to defund UNRWA."
She called on looking to other UN organizations such as UNHCR and the World Food Program to take UNRWA's place.