Clinton Seeking Helms’ OK for Vote on Moseley-Braun

President Clinton said Friday that he is attempting to reach an agreement with Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) that would pave the way for a vote on former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun’s nomination as ambassador to New Zealand.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Washington to campaign for a mayoral candidate in Philadelphia and speak to the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta, Clinton said that he has asked his staff to review documents that might be provided to Helms as part of the Senate’s consideration of Moseley-Braun’s nomination.

Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has threatened to hold up the nomination unless the White House gives him documents related to an investigation of her ethics.

When they served together in the Senate, Helms and Moseley-Braun often took opposing positions and occasionally exchanged heated words.

“I think we should at least take [Helms’] request seriously, because I think if she gets a hearing, she would be confirmed,” Clinton said during an Oval Office ceremony on medical records privacy. “I don’t think it’s right for one of our strongest allies, New Zealand, to be denied an ambassador . . . because of a previous dispute with the chairman of the committee. . . . I hope we can work it out.”

Helms said in a statement that, if his office receives “relevant documents,” hearings on Moseley-Braun’s nomination could proceed as soon as Tuesday and a vote could come on Wednesday.

Moseley-Braun, a Democrat and the only black woman elected to the Senate, was defeated in a 1998 reelection bid by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Her term was marked by controversy, including allegations that she used campaign funds to pay for personal purchases and trips.

Helms has pointed to these issues as justification for breaking with the traditionally gentle treatment former senators receive when seeking ambassadorships after losing an election. He said that Moseley-Braun lost her seat because of an “ethical cloud” hanging over her.

“If there is nothing to hide in these documents, then there should be no reason for the White House to withhold them,” Helms said in his statement.

Civil rights groups and congressional Democrats have protested Helms’ threat to block the nomination, arguing that it has racist overtones and reflects the GOP’s reluctance to move on Clinton’s minority nominations for judicial and ambassadorial appointments.

Helms was quoted in a Capitol Hill newspaper as saying that he would refuse to allow Moseley-Braun’s nomination to proceed to a Senate vote unless she apologizes for leading the opposition to a bill he introduced six years ago. Moseley-Braun persuaded a majority of senators to vote against the measure, which would have allowed the United Daughters of the Confederacy to renew a patent on their emblem, which includes an image of the Confederate flag.

“I don’t think she should hold her breath until she becomes an ambassador,” Helms told the newspaper Roll Call earlier. “She should look for another line of work.”