On an 82-13 roll call, the Senate confirmed Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as the U.S. ambassador to China. The longest-serving governor in U.S. history has said he will push China, the No. 1 customer for U.S. ag exports, to admit American beef and to remove barriers to other U.S. farm exports.
“I look forward to working with both my friend President Donald Trump and my old friend President Xi Jinping for the mutual benefit of both of our countries and the rest of the world,” Branstad said in a statement, according to the Des Moines Register. Branstad described the ambassadorship as the opportunity of a lifetime. The Register said Branstad met Xi Jinping, now China’s president, in 1985 when Xi, as a feed cooperative official, led a delegation to Iowa.
Although the vote for Branstad was bipartisan, all of the votes against the nomination came from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and three members of the Senate Agriculture Commitee: Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York State.