During confirmation hearings November 5, Ambassador-designate to Australia Jeffrey L. Bleich told a Senate panel that there is no greater honor or opportunity than to work with our valued Australian friends and allies. “The relationship between the United States and Australia is one of our strongest and most productive international alliances,” he said in his opening statement. Bleich, who is nominated by President Obama as the next ambassador to Australia, must be confirmed by the full Senate before the appointment is official.
To read a transcript of his testimony

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a confirmation hearing for Jeffrey L. Bleich, Ambassador-designate for Australia, on Thursday, 5 November.

President Obama is responsible for nominating individuals to a wide variety of civilian, judicial and military positions. The Senate must confirm nominations because the United States Constitution mandates this process for ambassadors, cabinet members and Supreme Court justices.

Learn more:

• Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: committee & floor procedure
• Constitution of the United States

“The human space flight program that the United States is currently pursuing is one that is on an unstable trajectory,” according to a contributor to the report Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation.

The Augustine Committee was established earlier this year when the Office of Science & Technology Policy asked NASA to initiate a review of its human space flight programs and plans, as well as alternatives, to ensure the nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight - one that is safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable.

Read more:

• Transcript of press briefing
• Overview of committee findings

As an institution, the Supreme Court commands respect, legitimacy, and prestige both in the United States and abroad. The latest edition of eJournal USA describes many aspects of the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Solicitor General Elena Kagan present their introductions and contributions by legal scholars and journalists focus on the elements of judicial decision making and independence of the justices. Four Court officials and a former Supreme Court law clerk also describe their jobs.

Secretary of State Clinton has just released the State Department’s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom.

Read more:

• Remarks on the release of the 2009 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
• Briefing on the release of the 2009 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
• Freedom of speech and religion must be balanced, Clinton says
• Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

“The U.N. is vital to America’s efforts to create a better, safer world,” said President Obama in his proclamation of United Nations Day on 24 October. “As expressed in the founding values of the United Nations, we share a common security and are unified by our common humanity. This truth calls us to work cooperatively with nations from around the globe in the pursuit of peace, economic prosperity, and human opportunity.”

Learn more:

• UN at a glance
• The US and UN: advancing opportunities
• US multilateral engagement: benefits to American citizens
• US Mission to the UN
• UN info center for Australia, NZ & the South Pacific

Developed by the Energy Information Adminstration of the U.S. Department of Energy, the new Energy Explained, your guide to understanding energy  website includes facts about energy usage in the United States, energy calculators and information about non-renewable and renewable sources of energy.

The aim of World Food Day, proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the FAO of the United Nations, is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The Day marks the date of the founding of the FAO in 1945.

Learn more:

• World Food Day USA
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The new ejournal Climate Change Perspectives offers perspectives of experts and activists in several key countries on effective policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate global warming and adapt to irreversible changes, and features an introduction by U.S. special envoy Todd Stern.

Learn more:

• Climate change (Dept. of State)
• Biography of Todd Stern
• Energy & environment (White House)
• Environment & climate change (USRS)

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace on Friday, 9 October.

In his remarks, President Obama noted,  ”… throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.  And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action — a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

Read more:

• Obama wins Nobel Prize for nuclear disarmament, multilateralism
• Obama ‘humbled’ by award of 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
• Obama is among 21 Americans awarded Nobel Peace Prize