[Mb-civic] Senate Committee Delays Vote on Bolton By Barry Schweid The Associated Press

[Michael Butler]

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    Senate Committee Delays Vote on Bolton
    By Barry Schweid
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 13 April 2005

    Washington - President Bush's drive to make John R. Bolton the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations got sidetracked Wednesday as Senate
Democrats forced a delay until next week of an important confirmation vote.

    In buying time, they hoped to win over a pivotal Republican on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, by
amassing evidence that Bolton harassed U.S. officials who challenged his
judgment on weapons issues.

    Chafee said Wednesday he is leaning toward supporting Bolton, which
would all but assure Bolton's confirmation.

    Bolton, currently the undersecretary of state, has rejected the
accusations.

    A committee vote, tentatively planned for Thursday, was scrubbed after
Democrats objected, said Andy Fisher, spokesman for the chairman, Sen.
Richard Lugar, R-Ind.

    Under Senate rules, at least one Democratic senator has to attend a
meeting for a vote to occur.

    Democrats want further questioning of Bolton in writing and they are
seeking testimony by three U.S. officials on what lawmakers said were
Bolton's efforts to remove the dissenting analysts.

    Fisher said the three officials already had been interviewed by
committee aides and their statements were made public.

    "There is no need for an additional hearing," he said.

    The postponement was agreed to by Lugar and the committee's senior
Democrat, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said Norm Kurz, an aide to Biden.

    "A nomination of this importance deserves providing each and every
senator with ample time," Kurz said.

    Republicans hold a 10-8 committee majority. Unanimous GOP support would
send Bolton's nomination to the GOP-controlled Senate, where approval is
considered likely.

    The committee, in two days of hearings this week, heard from two
witnesses, Bolton and Carl Ford Jr., a former chief at the State
Department's bureau of intelligence and research.

    Ford denounced Bolton as a bully and a "serial abuser" of lower-level
officials who challenged his assessments of the weapons potential of Cuba
and other nations.

    In a letter to Lugar, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., requested an
additional hearing in which three officials would testify on Bolton's
dealings with intelligence analysts. Dodd described Bolton as "evasive."

    The three officials Dodd wants questioned are Thomas Fingar, assistant
secretary of state for intelligence; Neil Silver, director of the strategic
proliferation office; and Stuart Cohen, a former acting chief of the
National Intelligence Council.

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took issue with Ford's
characterization of Bolton as a bully.

    "John Bolton has been a very effective manager and diplomat," she said.
She added, "It would be very useful if we could get this nomination done."

    Rice said she believed strongly in the "role of debate, the role of the
open and free exchange of ideas."

    But, she said, when decisions are taken, "I fully expect that people
will support those decisions because there is only one president of the
United States and that's President Bush."