Tim Rieser is a senior foreign policy aid to Senator

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, L ...

. He is one "of the most powerful staffers in Congress presiding over U.S. foreign policy and U.S. foreign assistance."What to do when cynicism becomes your political default
''

The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

''. In 2015 he was listed as number 22 of

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

50 - a "guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics".

Education

Rieser graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976 and from

Antioch School of Law Antioch School of Law was a law school in Washington, D.C. which specialized in public advocacy. The school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL). The school was located on 16th Stre ...

, now the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, in 1979.

Political career

Rieser is a former public defender from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

. He has worked for Leahy since 1985. Since 1989 he has served as the Democratic Clerk for the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. Rieser was one of the architects of the 1992 law that banned land mines. Rieser also helped draft the 1998

Leahy Law The Leahy Laws or Leahy amendments are U.S. human rights laws that prohibit the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity. It is n ...

which bans the United States from providing military assistance to foreign armies that violate human rights without being held to account. In 2014, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez made international news by attacking Rieser publicly for aid restrictions. Rieser was influential in opening U.S. policy toward

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and played a "significant role" in getting

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...

contractor

Alan Gross Alan Phillip Gross (born May 2, 1949) is a former United States government contractor employed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In December 2009 he was arrested in Cuba while working on a program funded unde ...

released from prison in Cuba.Londoño, Ernest
How a Cuban Spy and His Wife Came to Be Expectant Parents
(December 22, 2014).Scott Pelley,
The Last Prisoner of the Cold War

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

, (November 29, 2015). Released after five years of captivity in Cuba, Alan Gross talks with Scott Pelley in his first interview about his ordeal and the activities leading up to his arrest

References

External links

Timothy S Rieser Professional Staff, Senate Committee on Appropriations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rieser, Tim 21st-century American lawyers Legislative staff Living people United States congressional aides Vermont Democrats Year of birth missing (living people)