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Dumas native breezes through Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A Dumas native who is President Bush's pick as ambassador to the Republic of the Congo promised Wednesday to protect American oil interests in that country. Alan Eastham said there is little accountability and potential for corruption as oil production grows in the Congo. The west African country is the fifth-largest oil producer on the continent. So, with oil prices near record highs and Congress focused on U.S. energy needs, lawmakers sought Eastham's take on the Congolese oil industry during the Arkansan's Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. "There's insufficient attention to the role of African oil supplies," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. "This is something the American people, I think, have limited awareness of." Eastham shared a table with three other ambassadorial appointees who all went through smooth hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The committee must vote on his nomination followed by a full vote of the Senate before his appointment takes effect. There has been no public opposition. Eastham, 56, is currently ambassador to Malawi. If confirmed, Eastham will take over a embassy that just seven years ago re-established relations with the Congolese government. The U.S. had left the war-torn country in 1997. His challenges include monitoring how the Congo regulates the oil industry as American companies start production there. According to the State Department, Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Corp. has signed a contract with the Congo government to begin oil exploration. "We must ensure that American commercial interests can operate in a free, lawful, orderly and transparent economic and regulatory environment," Eastham told lawmakers. Chevron also has a presence in the Congo, he said. Eastham said he would encourage Congolese officials to fight corruption and invest oil revenue to improve the country's infrastructure. Eastham would not characterize the government's financial problems as corruption, but instead called it a "lack of accountability" that caused trouble with the International Monetary Fund and a debt relief program. He praised the country's efforts to implement a program to improve transparency and accountability in the oil industry. And, if confirmed, he said he hopes to "help push along" enrollment in the program. Eastham will likely preside over completion of a new U.S. embassy compound next year. Presidential elections are also scheduled for 2009. The Republic of the Congo has about 3.8 million people in a geographic area slightly larger than the state of New Mexico. Eastham has been in the foreign service for more than three decades. He was assigned to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zaire and Pakistan before being named chief of mission in Malawi in 2005. Before he started work for the State Department, he managed a radio station owned by his father in Pine Bluff. He graduated from Hendrix College in Conway and has a law degree from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Carolyn, a Morrilton native, have two college-aged sons. |
