President Donald J. Trump announced his intent today to nominate Catholic University Law Professor Robert Destro to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
"I am honored, humbled, and grateful that President Trump has nominated me to serve our country as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,” said Destro, a professor in the Columbus School of Law. “If confirmed, I will join a great team. I also thank all of my colleagues and students here at The Catholic University of America, whose help, support and constructive criticism has so profoundly shaped my perspective on the important issues facing our nation and the world.
“My immediate task is to make myself available for questioning by the members of the United States Senate, who are charged by the Constitution with the solemn duty to provide their advice and consent,” added Destro. “I look forward to that process, and ask that all who are interested in this critically important area of foreign policy to pray for me, the senators, and the president as that process begins."
Destro is a human rights advocate, a civil rights attorney with expertise in elections and employment law, and director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at Catholic University. Destro has been on the law school faculty since 1982 and served as its interim dean from 1999 to 2001. He served a six-year term as commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
If confirmed for this position, Destro would serve as the head of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor within the United States Department of State.