Guest Blog

Here at the U.S. Embassy, our work is largely with the central Iraqi government. I work with three ministries. My work includes coordinating resources and efforts with international organizations.

The following comments were made in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

I am standing near the stainless steel doors of Annex One. This is the office complex I work in at the U.S. Embassy Compound. The Chancery is next door. Annex Two is at the other end of the compound.

You only have to look back in history at the role of women at work to understand the strength and value women bring to the workforce. Think back to 1940, when World War II drove women out of their homes or traditional female work to enter occupations generally filled by men. Jobs once closed to women were suddenly available, and the “gender” roadblock appeared to be lifted.

Greetings, from the heart of Baghdad and the International Zone. I write from the third floor of the Embassy Compound Office, which is home to several agencies including the one to which I am assigned: the USDA’s Agricultural Affairs Office that is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

I grew up on a small farm in western Iowa and my father was an adamant proponent of buying American.