Branstad set for Tuesday hearing on ambassador post

DES MOINES - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on Gov. Terry Branstad's nomination to be ambassador to China.

The 21-member committee will question Branstad about a range of issues, including his views on U.S.-Chinese relations based on him leading trade missions to China and his personal relationship with President Xi Jinping.

Branstad already has submitted extensive background material documenting his education and work experience to the committee, as well as to the Department of State and the FBI.

If a majority of the committee, which is chaired by Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker and controlled by the GOP, approves Branstad's nomination, it will be referred to the full Senate. Branstad indicated Monday a confirmation vote could occur in May.

Branstad will be in Washington this Wednesday and Thursday to meet with individual members of the committee to answer questions they may have before the hearing Tuesday.

He already has previously traveled to the nation's capital to meet with other senators on the committee. Among the members are former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, and former GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida.

Branstad was tapped by then-President-elect Donald Trump in December to be the nation's ambassador to China.

Trump's nomination was based, in part, on Branstad's command of U. S-China trade issues as well as the seven-term governor's long relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They met in 1985 during Branstad's first term as governor. Xi, then 31, was a rural official in Hebei province, studying American agriculture, including hog and corn farming in Iowa.

'Terry came to my office and he was talking to me about trade, and I think there's nobody who knows more about trade than him,” Trump said during a campaign stop in Sioux City the Sunday before the presidential election. Branstad 'would be a prime candidate to take care of China. He has done so well for the people of Iowa. Nobody knows it better.”

Branstad has led at least six trade missions to China and hosted Xi at the Iowa Capitol.

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