WASHINGTON - Today, President Joe Biden announced the United States representatives for the 76th Session General Assembly of the United Nations opening on Tuesday, September 14:
- Tom Carnahan, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
- Sim Farar, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
- Congressman French Hill, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
- Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
Tom Carnahan, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
Tom Carnahan is a renewable energy developer and entrepreneur based in Saint Louis, Missouri. He is an attorney and community leader with extensive experience in both the workings of government and private sector innovation.
In 2005, drawing inspiration from his rural Missouri upbringing, Mr. Carnahan founded Wind Capital Group and became a leading developer, owner and operator of utility-scale wind farms in rural America. He is actively engaged in bringing renewable energy to the people of Sub-Saharan Africa and is developing several large wind, solar and battery storage projects in Tanzania and Zambia. In 2019 Mr. Carnahan joined Oakland Capital Partners and manages its two solar energy portfolio companies. Mr. Carnahan has testified on Capitol Hill and appeared on CNN, Fox Business News, ABC World News, MSNBC, NPR and other major media outlets as an expert on energy, public policy and development and served as the Chairman of the American Wind Energy Association in Washington D.C.
As an attorney, Mr. Carnahan represented the City of Saint Louis, Missouri as an Assistant City Counselor, serving in the roles of litigator and legal advisor. Later, he founded his own law practice specializing in urban redevelopment, municipal law and business counseling. He clerked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Mr. Carnahan has a B.A. degree in International Relations from William Jewell College, including one year of study at Cambridge University, and holds a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri School of Law.
Sim Farar, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
Sim Farar is currently the Chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. He is the managing member of JDF Investments Company LLC, specializing in corporate development and financing merger transactions for over 35 years.
In 2002, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn appointed Mr. Farar to serve as a commissioner for the $12 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension's Trustee fund. In 1999, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve as the United States Representative to the 54th General Assembly at the United Nations in New York City.
Mr. Farar has been a California resident since 1956. He has been married to Dr. Debra S. Farar for 48 years and resides in Pacific Palisades, California.
Congressman French Hill, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
A ninth generation Arkansan, French Hill is the 22nd Member of Congress to represent central Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected on November 4, 2014, and began his first congressional term in the 114th Congress on January 3, 2015. He won reelection to serve in the 115th, 116th, and 117th sessions of Congress.
He is a member of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance. In 2019, Rep. Hill was selected to be a member of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Republican House Whip Team.
Prior to his congressional service, Rep. Hill was actively engaged in the Arkansas business community for two decades as a commercial banker and investment manager. He was founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp., which was headquartered in Little Rock and recently merged with Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp.
Prior to his community banking work in Arkansas, Rep. Hill served as a senior official in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. From 1989 until 1991, Rep. Hill served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance, where one of his key assignments was representing the United States as a negotiator in the historic bilateral talks with Japan known as the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII).
Rep. Hill is a magna cum laude graduate in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is married to the former Martha McKenzie of Dallas, Texas, and they have a daughter and a son. The Hill family resides in Little Rock.
Barbara Lee, Representative of the United States to the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
In 1998, Congresswoman Barbara Lee was elected to serve California's 9th congressional district (now the 13th) in a special election. In 1990, Congresswoman Lee was elected to the California State Assembly, where she served until 1996 when she was elected to the State Senate. As a California legislator, Congresswoman Lee authored 67 bills and resolutions that were signed into law by Republican Governor Pete Wilson.
In 1998, Congresswoman Barbara Lee was elected to serve California's 9th congressional district (now the 13th) in a special election. Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as Co-Chair of the Steering & Policy Committee, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as Chair of the Majority Leader's Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest-ranking woman of color in the U.S. Congress.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee was born in segregated El Paso, TX and attended St. Joseph's Catholic School, where she was taught by the Sisters of Loretto, an order dedicated to promoting justice and peace. Her father was a veteran of two wars and her mother broke many glass ceilings and racial barriers. After grammar school, Congresswoman Lee moved to San Fernando, California and worked with the local NAACP to integrate her high school cheerleading squad.
Congresswoman Lee received her Masters of Social Work from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in psychiatric social work. During her graduate work, Congresswoman Lee founded the Community Health Alliance for Neighborhood Growth and Education (CHANGE, Inc.) which provided mental health services to many of the East Bay's most vulnerable individuals.
