Menéndez Questions Culture and Diversity at Aid Agency

Senator Bob Menéndez (D-NJ) is demanding answers regarding a series of statements and actions attributed to a senior leader at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. foreign aid agency. In a letter to Acting CEO of the MCC, Jonathan Nash, Menéndez specifically expressed concerns about comments made by MCC’s Vice President of Compact Operations, Robert Blau. He reportedly made "a number of troubling comments that raise questions about his approach to and treatment of employees based on their political leanings, sexual orientation, and national origin," Menéndez wrote. Among the comments Blau reportedly made: he told colleagues that he is "not someone who celebrates diversity or engineers it. To me, diversity just happens”; "My first wife was an African immigrant ... So, actually, on an anthropologic level, I'm like President Obama's mother. In the sense that my spouse was an African immigrant and my sons are mixed race, like President Obama and his siblings"; and "Your demographic is Asian. Are Asians all in one box?" he asked. "The big three in her area is Koreans, Japanese and Chinese. Would they want to be in the same box? I don't think so." The comments came to light as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- of which Menéndez recently regained the top Democratic post -- examined the nomination of Sean Cairncross to serve as MCC CEO. More here.