The U.S. Senate has confirmed the appointment of Washington's first envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), congressional aides said Thursday. The new envoy, Scot Marciel, who currently is a deputy assistant secretary of state, told a Senate confirmation hearing last month that he planned to travel extensively throughout the region to improve relations. The Senate confirmation “is an extraordinary milestone affirming the strong bipartisan commitment of American leaders and the American people to maintain and broaden our relationship with ASEAN,” said Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to Lugar, the Senate confirmation means that the United States is the first country to appoint an ambassador to ASEAN, which is comprised of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar. ASEAN countries have a combined population of almost 600 million, and together constitute the fourth-largest export market for the United States.
