Tim Rieser is a senior foreign policy aid to Senator Patrick Leahy. He is one "of the most powerful staffers in Congress presiding over U.S. foreign policy and U.S. foreign assistance."[1]
Tim Rieser | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA) Antioch School of Law (JD) |
In 2015 he was listed as number 22 of Politico 50 - a "guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics".[2]
Education
Rieser graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976 and from Antioch School of Law, now the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, in 1979.[3]
Political career
Rieser is a former public defender from Vermont. 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.[1]
Rieser was one of the architects of the 1992 law that banned land mines.[4][5]
Rieser also helped draft the 1998 Leahy Law which bans the United States from providing military assistance to foreign armies that violate human rights without being held to account.[4] In 2014, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez made international news by attacking Rieser publicly for aid restrictions.[6]
Rieser was influential in opening U.S. policy toward Cuba and played a "significant role" in getting USAID contractor Alan Gross released from prison in Cuba.[7][8][4][9]