--- title: Congressman Mistakes U.S. Officials For Indian Officials description: "I am familiar with your country, I love your country," Clawson said to Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, who are high-ranking U.S. officials canonical: https://time.com/3038010/congressman-curt-clawson-mistakes-u-s-officials-for-indian-officials/ author: Giri Nathan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-25T21:55:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:21:41.157Z article:section: Politics og:title: Congressman Mistakes U.S. Officials For Indian Officials og:description: "I am familiar with your country, I love your country," Clawson said to Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, who are high-ranking U.S. officials og:url: https://time.com/3038010/congressman-curt-clawson-mistakes-u-s-officials-for-indian-officials/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta198ee9175dc7a48/69869d51e53aba297f4d3be8/ap510671528719.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1245 og:image:height: 700 og:image:alt: Curt Clawson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Congressman Mistakes U.S. Officials For Indian Officials twitter:description: "I am familiar with your country, I love your country," Clawson said to Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, who are high-ranking U.S. officials twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta198ee9175dc7a48/69869d51e53aba297f4d3be8/ap510671528719.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Congressman Mistakes U.S. Officials For Indian Ones > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Giri Nathan](https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/) ## Giri Nathan Jul 25, 2014 9:55 PM UTC  Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., carries a Bible for as ceremonial swearing-in with Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the Capitol in Washington, June 25, 2014. Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., carries a Bible for as ceremonial swearing-in with Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the Capitol in Washington, June 25, 2014. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Giri Nathan](https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/) ## Giri Nathan Jul 25, 2014 9:55 PM UTC Rep. Curt Clawson, a freshman Republican congressman from Florida, mistook two senior U.S. officials for representatives of the Indian government during a House hearing on Friday. “I am familiar with your country, I love your country,” Clawson said to Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, addressing fellow U.S. citizens who hold high-ranking positions in the State Department and Commerce Department, respectively. “Just as your capital is welcome here to produce good-paying jobs in the U.S., I’d like our capital to be welcome there,” he told Biswal and Kumar. “I ask cooperation and commitment and priority from your government in so doing. Can I have that?” After a lingering silence, Clawson smiles slowly. Kumar appears to grin, while Biswal echoes Clawson’s sentiment, informing him it should probably be directed to the Indian government. It’s unclear whether Clawson realized his error. Nisha Biswal serves as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, while Arun Kumar is Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service. Both were introduced was U.S. officials before testifying before the House Asia and Pacific subcommittee, according to [Foreign Policy](http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/07/25/exclusive%5Ffreshman%5Fcongressman%5Fmistakes%5Fsenior%5Fgovernment%5Fofficials%5Ffor%5Fforeigners). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3038010/congressman-curt-clawson-mistakes-u-s-officials-for-indian-officials/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3038010/congressman-curt-clawson-mistakes-u-s-officials-for-indian-officials/"},"headline":"Congressman Mistakes U.S. Officials For Indian Ones","datePublished":"2014-07-25T21:55:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:21:41.157Z","description":"\"I am familiar with your country, I love your country,\" Florida Congressmember Curt Clawson told high-ranking U.S. officials Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar","url":"https://time.com/3038010/congressman-curt-clawson-mistakes-u-s-officials-for-indian-officials/","keywords":["Congress","India","House of Representatives"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta198ee9175dc7a48/69869d51e53aba297f4d3be8/ap510671528719.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Giri Nathan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta198ee9175dc7a48/69869d51e53aba297f4d3be8/ap510671528719.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Curt Clawson","caption":"Curt Clawson","creditText":"J. 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