US Senate confirms Glass as ambassador to Japan

Washington (Jiji Press) — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved by a majority vote the appointment of George Glass as the country’s ambassador to Japan.

Glass, who was approved in a 66-32 vote, has said in his confirmation hearing that he will always put the United States first.

He is poised to increase pressure on Japan over issues such as the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian country and Tokyo’s share of the cost of stationing U.S. forces in Japan.

The Senate also confirmed the same day Elbridge Colby as undersecretary of defense for policy, the third-ranking position in the U.S. Defense Department. Colby has said that Japan should spend at least 3 pct of its gross domestic product on defense as soon as possible.