Republicans to Push for Bolton Reappointment
By REUTERS
Published: September 5, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday said they hoped the committee will vote later this week to keep John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as Bolton picked up public support from one of two wavering Republicans....
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A spokesman for Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said the senator held "a direct and honest conversation'' with Bolton on Tuesday and would support him. A spokesman for Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island earlier on Tuesday said the senator had not reached a decision.
Committee Republicans will aim to stick together against Democrats' opposition to Bolton, who has served as U.N. envoy for the last year after President George W. Bush bypassed the Senate and appointed him during a congressional recess....
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About 60 retired diplomats who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed letters to Foreign Relations Committee members calling Bolton unfit to keep the job and urging his rejection....They said Bolton's "hard core, go-it-alone posture'' has hurt the United States in the world body, and said "with so much at stake, our country cannot afford to permit John Bolton to continue his destructive course during the next two years.''...
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Democrats said they would decide after the committee vote on whether to try to block a Senate vote on Bolton's nomination, as they did last year....
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-bush-bolton.html