The Senate voted 90-0 to confirm career diplomat Scot Marciel to the post in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Currently the principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Marciel has also been ambassador to Indonesia and served in Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil and Turkey.
Obama nominated Marciel to be his next envoy to Myanmar in October. His confirmation vote had been briefly delayed by concerns that the administration might ease sanctions before the country's human rights situation improved.
- Reuters