As I sat in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s business meeting participating in yet another discussion on the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, I had a real sense of déjà vu. After two years of considering Aponte’s nomination, after multiple hearings and background briefings, and after agreeing to break with protocol to allow more than one Republican on the committee to examine her personal FBI file, my Republican colleagues asked for “just one more classified hearing” to fully vet her nomination.

One more hearing? Come on, let’s be honest: There is no question about Ambassador Aponte’s qualifications or performance on the job; this is just another case of Republican foot dragging in order to undermine the president’s policy objectives.

I am especially concerned by the actions of my Senate colleagues who are willing to see this remarkable Hispanic woman sacrificed to inside-the- Beltway politics, where the political points gained from bringing down an administration nominee supersede the value gained from having a superior ambassador in San Salvador promoting and guarding American interests.

(Mari Carmen Aponte was first nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador on Dec. 9, 2009, and was recess-appointed to that post on Aug. 19, 2010. She was re-nominated at the beginning of the 112th Congress.)

Born in Puerto Rico, Ambassador Aponte became the executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in 2001. She has served as a director at the National Council of La Raza and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. She has presided over the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

In addition to fostering a strong U.S.-Salvadoran bilateral relationship that resulted in President Obama announcing El Salvador as one of four countries chosen to participate in the Partnership for Growth initiative, she has focused on strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Salvadoran business communities and served as a staunch advocate for U.S. companies.

Perhaps most important, Ambassador Aponte has been an advocate for American national security and democratic values. As a result of her advocacy, El Salvador is again a key ally in Central America and its troops are the only ones from a Latin American country fighting alongside American troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. She has consistently fought Cuba and Venezuela’s efforts to gain influence in Central America and as a result of her negotiating skills, the U.S. and El Salvador will open a new, jointly-funded, electronic monitoring center that will be an invaluable tool in fighting transnational crime.

Her Republican detractors originally cited a personal relationship with a Cuban national as evidence of her unsuitability for office. When facts and files didn’t corroborate these vicious allegations, they changed their tune to decry an editorial written by Ambassador Aponte on tolerance and non-violence during gay pride month as the basis for their opposition — an editorial that was ordered by the State Department and which mirrored a May 2010 decree by Salvadoran President Funes prohibiting discrimination by the government based on sexual orientation.

The shifting basis of their opposition reveals the true motive for their opposition — partisan politics, driven by partisan interests that relish their ability to derail an Administration nominee without regard to the consequences for American foreign policy.

As a lifelong proponent of democracy in Cuba and an adversary of the Cuban regime, I have never let down my guard to the subversive nature of the Castro regime, and if I had any concern that Ambassador Aponte would let her guard down, I would not be supporting her today.

I urge my colleagues to support Ambassador Aponte’s nomination, put partisan politics aside, recognize the benefits to America’s security and foreign policy interests that her tenure has delivered, and allow her to continue serving our nation.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.