Daniel Kritenbrink opened his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in June 2021 with these remarks. He was confirmed as Assistant Secretary in September. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1994. Among his roles Kritenbrink was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Beijing (2013-2015) and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (2015-2017) before serving as ambassador to Vietnam (2017-2021). 72 senators voted to confirm him in this position. 28, all Republicans, opposed his nomination or did not vote.