Panel OKs New Envoy to Paris in Secret; He’s ‘Born Againer’

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, after closed-door discussions, recommended today that the Senate approve the nomination of Joe M. Rodgers--a conservative Nashville businessman with little foreign policy experience--to be the new U.S. ambassador to France.

Rodgers, 51, who prospered in the construction business, served as finance chairman of President Reagan’s reelection committee and was finance chairman of the Republican National Committee for three years beginning in 1979.

According to newspaper accounts in Tennessee, Rodgers describes himself as a “born-again” Christian and a conservative and has been outspoken in his opposition to labor unions.

The Nashville Tennessean said a plaque on his office wall reads, “Remember the Lord your God for it is He that gives the ability to produce wealth.”

Rodgers has told the Foreign Relations Committee that he is engaged in intensive language training in order to learn French and that he intends to continue language classes after reaching Paris.

If confirmed by the Senate, Rodgers will succeed Evan Galbraith as ambassador to France.