US president Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American attorney Rashad Hussain as the ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.
Hussain, 41, who is currently director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council, is the first Muslim to be nominated to the key position.
“Today's announcement underscores the president's commitment to build an Administration that looks like America and reflects people of all faiths. Hussain is the first Muslim to be nominated to serve as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom,” the White House said in a statement on Friday (30).
Hussain earlier served as senior counsel at the Department of Justice's National Security Division.
During the tenure of Barack Obama, he served as US special envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), US special envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications and Deputy Associate White House Counsel.
As envoy, Hussain worked with multilateral organisations such as the OIC and the UN, foreign governments and civil society organisations to expand partnerships in education, entrepreneurship, health, international security, science and technology and other areas.
He also spearheaded efforts on protecting religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries.
Hussain received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and Master's degrees in Public Administration (Kennedy School of Government) and Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University.
Biden also nominated Pakistani-American Khizr Khan as commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
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