GOP Senator Urges ‘No’ on Bolton

A moderate Republican senator has written to all 99 of his colleagues to urge that they reject President Bush’s nomination of John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“I strongly feel that the importance of this nomination to our foreign policy requires us to set aside our partisan agenda and let our consciences and our shared commitment to our nation’s best interests guide us,” wrote Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio.

Nevertheless, Bolton’s eventual confirmation appeared likely. With a Senate debate on judges resolved, Republicans and Democrats in the chamber were working on a deal Tuesday that would allow 40 hours of floor debate on the Bolton nomination.

The debate is likely to begin today. But it was unclear whether a vote on the nomination could be taken before the Senate recessed at the end of the week.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said any delay would favor the Democrats’ bid to persuade other moderate Republicans to join them in opposing Bolton’s nomination.

“Time works against Bolton because he’s so outrageous,” she said.

“He is a walking symbol of this administration’s abuse of power, and the longer it hangs out there, the more the American people can focus on it.”

Still, other Democrats said they presumed the Republicans would not bring the Bolton nomination to the Senate floor unless they believed they had the votes to approve his nomination.

Bolton, who has served as undersecretary of State for arms control and international security since 2001, is a blunt conservative who has been an outspoken critic of the United Nations. Conservatives say that is precisely why Bush nominated him to oversee U.N. restructuring.

However, during contentious hearings by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a subsequent investigation by the committee’s staff, a number of current and former Bush administration officials testified that Bolton had attempted to remove intelligence analysts whose views differed from with his.

Witnesses also said Bolton had strayed from the administration’s message so frequently that he was required to clear each speech and public statement with then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage or with then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s chief of staff.

At a Foreign Relations Committee meeting May 12, Voinovich agreed to send Bolton’s nomination to the full Senate on the condition that the committee made no recommendation.

In his letter this week to colleagues, Voinovich applauded Bush for attempting to strengthen U.S. international relationships and improve America’s standing abroad, but said Bolton’s nomination “contradicts the president’s efforts.”

“In these dangerous times,” he wrote, “we cannot afford to put at risk our nation’s ability to successfully wage and win the war on terror with a controversial and ineffective ambassador to the United Nations.”

Boxer had placed a hold on the nomination, effectively delaying a vote by the full Senate, until the Bush administration agreed to produce documents and information that had been withheld from the committee.

The information has not been provided to the panel. But Boxer said she would agree to lift the hold in exchange for the 40 hours of debate: Democrats would control the Senate floor for 20 hours and Republicans for the other 20.