Take It From Us: Jessica Morse Has the Proven Experience to Lead in Congress
Ambassador Dawn Liberi, Retired US Ambassador to Burundi and USAID Mission Director to Iraq (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambassador-dawn-m-liberi/)
Dirk Dijkerman, Former Chief Operating Officer (COO), Office of US Foreign Assistance, Department of State (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirk-dijkerman-2486b819/)
Jessica Morse — running for Congress in California’s 4th district — has an impressive resume for anyone, regardless of their gender or age. She was on the ground in Baghdad as a development professional, an advisor to the Commander, US Pacific Command (PACOM) where she was integral in strengthening US-India defense relationship using renewable energy and worked to counter terrorist threats in South Asia. Morse also has more federal budget experience than some sitting members of Congress, having overseen billions of dollars in the global foreign aid budget at the State Department and later the US Agency for International Development (USAID). She has a Master’s Degree from Princeton University where she focused on nuclear non-proliferation.
Yet despite this impressive experience and the strong support of former supervisors (like ourselves) from USAID and the Department of State, Morse has been subjected to unfounded accusations, gleefully picked up by some media outlets that she has somehow overstated her accomplishments. The underlying assumption being that of course no person — or woman — her age could have had the responsibilities and accomplishments that she is touting.
As former direct supervisors for Morse at USAID, and the State Department, let us be clear — her record is as impressive as it sounds. We want to add our voices of support to the clear endorsement delivered by her PACOM boss, retired US Navy Captain David Cutter.
“While working in Baghdad in the middle of the most intense period of the war’s conflict, Jessica was a leader in USAID’s development mission. She worked tirelessly,” said Ambassador Dawn Liberi, former USAID Mission Director to Iraq. “She was not in a European capital or the Tropics — she was aggressively supporting her country’s freedom in a war zone. It was not an academic exercise but a matter of national security. She did her job with integrity, honor and skill.”
“During her time at the Department of State, Morse successfully coordinated management of $25 billion in federal funds through the Congress and with the many different U.S. governmental departments and agencies engaged in Iraq’s reconstruction and recovery,” said Dirk Dijkerman, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Office of Foreign Assistance, Department of State. “Morse was an excellent Iraq Country Coordinator — an official government role in which the individual helps to ‘manage’ the Government’s budget.”
As a reminder, here’s what retired Captain Cutter wrote, “Jessica Morse, leading CA04 rival to Tom McClintock, was an innovator at US Pacific Command. Yes, Jessica Morse was an adviser to the Commander, US Pacific Command (PACOM), a four star Admiral, and yes, Jessica Morse did rewrite PACOM’s US India Defense Strategy incorporating an innovative multi-agency initiative.”
Jessica also worked in USAID’s budget office, by the time she left, she was responsible for coordinating roughly half of the agency’s annual budget of roughly $20 billion. This is significant, impressive, and should be reported accurately.
She described her work on behalf of the American people in this capacity accurately, despite her opponents and their surrogates suggesting otherwise. It’s not complicated and not wordsmithing.
These impressive accomplishments and the support of her superiors on the ground speak for themselves. Morse proved to us that she has the tenacity, intelligence and she materially contributed to advancing our national security priorities. She will do the same for the priorities of the people of the 4th Congressional District.
That experience will serve her, and the communities she represents, well in Congress.
Ambassador Dawn Liberi, Retired US Ambassador to Burundi and USAID Mission Director to Iraq (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambassador-dawn-m-liberi/)
Dirk Dijkerman, Former Chief Operating Officer (COO), Office of Foreign Assistance, Department of State (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirk-dijkerman-2486b819/)
