Voice of America
Sept 7 2006
US Senate Panel Postpones Vote on UN Nominee
By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
07 September 2006
A key Senate panel has postponed a vote on the nomination of John
Bolton for a full- term appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations. The unexpected development came as the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee considered a number of President Bush’s key
diplomatic nominations.
John Bolton
Bolton’s nomination, and therefore his confirmation by the full
Senate, has been held up for months even as he has temporarily
carried out his duties at the United Nations under a recess
appointment made last August by President Bush.
That appointment expires January 1, and the president has made it
clear on numerous occasions his determination to have Bolton
confirmed by the Senate.
Republican Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee, explained the postponement during Wednesday’s
committee session.
"We had originally intended to vote on the nomination of John Bolton
to be ambassador to the U.N. However, I am removing the nomination
from today’s agenda after conferring with several senators," he said.
Eventually, Bolton is expected to have the support of 10 committee
Republicans, although one key senator, Lincoln Chafee, has not yet
said how he will vote.
The nomination has been troublesome for Senator Lugar, who had to
overcome opposition from one key Republican Senator, George
Voinovich, and from Democrats who successfully blocked the Bolton
nomination in the Senate last year.
All eight committee Democrats have opposed Bolton, and Senator Chris
Dodd has urged fellow Democrats to filibuster Bolton’s nomination if
it does get to the Senate floor.
Senator Lugar has not said when the nomination will be scheduled
again at committee level.
In separate actions, the Foreign Relations panel also approved six
ambassadorial or diplomatic nominations.
One, Richard Hoagland as ambassador to Armenia, sparked statements by
some senators upset that the U.S. government does not officially
recognize as genocide the forced mass evacuation, and deaths related
to it, of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman
Empire.
Among the comments were these by Democrat Joseph Biden and Senator
Lugar, who said rejecting the Hoagland nomination would set a
troubling precedent and harm U.S. efforts to work with a
strategically important nation.
"I think the administration’s policy [on the Armenian genocide issue]
is not only wrong, it is factually inconsistent with history," Sen.
Biden said.
"Further delay in posting a highly-qualified nominee in Yerevan is
not in the interest of U.S. national security or our credibility in
the region," said Sen. Lugar.
The Senate committee also approved and sent to the Senate for
ratification the U.S.-Britain extradition treaty which lawmakers
noted will help both countries deal with the worsening threat of
Islamist terrorism.