REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
CANDIDATE: John R. Bass
John R. Bass, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, a position he has held since 2014. As Chief of Mission in Turkey and previously in Tbilisi, Georgia from 2009 to 2012, and also as leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Baghdad, Iraq from 2008 to 2009, Mr. Bass has spent much of the past decade supporting U.S. government efforts to mobilize allies and marshal resources to address violence and instability, and combat terrorism, in Iraq, Syria and Southwest Asia. Experienced at the highest levels of foreign policy-making in Washington and abroad, his leadership, crisis management experience, and extensive work with U.S. military colleagues will serve him well in leading a diverse team from across the federal government in strengthening bilateral relations and defending America’s interests in the challenging, dangerous region that encompasses Afghanistan.
Mr. Bass also served as Director of the Operations Center at the Department of State from 2005 to 2008 and as Senior Advisor to the Vice President from 2004 to 2005. From 2002 to 2004, he was Labor Counselor at U.S. Embassy Rome, Italy. He also served as Chief of Staff and Special Assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the Department of State from 1998 to 2001. Before that, he was NATO Desk Officer from 1996 to 1997 and Desk Officer for Belgium and the Netherlands from 1995 to 1996 in the Department’s Bureau of European Affairs. Mr. Bass also has served as an Intelligence Analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 1993 to 1995, as a Political-Military Officer at the U.S. Embassy Brussels, Belgium from 1992 to 1993, a Consular Officer at the U.S. Consulate General Antwerp, Belgium from 1991 to 1992, and as a General Services Officer in the U.S. Embassy Ndjamena, Chad from 1988 to 1990.
Mr. Bass earned an A.B. in International Relations from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. He speaks Italian and French.