The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday voted to approve Colorado Springs’ businessman Vinai Thummalapally’s appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Belize.

Thummalapally was President Barack Obama’s roommate in 1979 at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Thummalapally and his wife, Barbara, have been supporters of Obama’s throughout the president’s career.

Thummalapally is president of MAM-A, a manufacturer of compact discs and DVD’s based in Colorado Springs.

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the first Indian-American Ambassador in U.S. history.