Field expertise essential

Miami Herald: The best reason for nominating Ellen Sauerbrey to run the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, appears to be her credentials as a politician. But that isn't a good enough reason to put Sauerbrey in charge of the agency that shapes the U.S. response to refugee crises worldwide. She has no experience in immigration policy-making or in responding to refugee crises. Remember Michael Brown's disaster at FEMA? The Senate Foreign Relations Committee should reject this nomination and look for someone better qualified.
No management experience
Sauerbrey, 68, was a Maryland legislator for 16 years. She also headed President Bush's 2000 campaign in Maryland. Most recently, she has served as U.S. envoy to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Her only management experience was a stint as a U.S. Census manager in several Maryland counties in 1970.
Nothing in her background suggests that Sauerbrey is prepared to steer an organization that has the bureau's global scope and responsibility. Refugee advocates are concerned about positions she has taken at the United Nations that seem to undermine women's basic rights.