Senate Panel Votes 19-0 for Baker Appointment as Secretary of State

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the confirmation of James A. Baker III as secretary of state, giving a strong bipartisan endorsement to President-elect Bush’s first Cabinet appointment.

The committee’s 19-0 vote was taken after two days of hearings in which Baker pledged to seek more consultation and consensus with Congress and both Democrats and Republicans gave him lavish praise.

Baker has not formally been nominated yet, because Bush will not be sworn in as President until today. But Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) agreed to conduct the confirmation hearings early--and acknowledged from the start that Baker will have no difficulty winning the Senate’s approval once President Bush makes a formal request.

The full Senate is expected to confirm Baker’s nomination next Wednesday.

Baker, 58, has known Bush for more than 20 years, worked on Bush’s 1970 Senate campaign and managed his presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1988. He was White House chief of staff during President Reagan’s first term and secretary of the Treasury during Reagan’s second term.