The April 14 voice vote positions Cook to become the first woman and the first African-American in the post after a lengthy and controversial nomination process, Religion News Service reports.
“I am … persuaded in my mind, heart, and soul that religious freedom is the birthright of all people everywhere; a foundation of civil society, a key to international security, and it must always be a pillar of U.S. foreign policy,” she said in a statement.
Cook, who retired in 2009 as pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Church, which she founded, was nominated last June. Her nomination stalled in the Senate and expired in December, but she was renominated in February
