U.N. Nominee, Democrats Lock Horns on His Record
WASHINGTON — John R. Bolton, emerging as the most controversial of President Bush's second-term nominees, battled charges by Democratic senators Monday that he had bullied intelligence analysts who disagreed with him and was unfit to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
During a tense daylong hearing on his confirmation, Democrats painted Bolton as too ideologically hostile to the U.N., undiplomatic and too compromised by his handling of intelligence to be entrusted with America's top U.N. job.
"The U.N. needs reform -- lots of it," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). "But we don't need a voice people are not inclined to listen to."
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) told Bolton that he was "the absolute perfect person for the job" because "you'll advance our principles and you are not going to be seduced" by the "pontificating bureaucrats" at the U.N.
In an opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bolton pledged "to fulfill the president's vision of working in close partnership with the United Nations," and cited the administration's interest in reforming the world body.
He outlined a number of administration objectives, including spending $10 million to set up a fund inside the U.N. to promote democracy. He also said the White House aimed to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons, work with nations to combat terrorism and choke off its financing, and address humanitarian crises.
Bolton, who has a reputation for speaking bluntly, responded sharply at times to members of the panel, insisting on his right to address senators' comments and demanding that committee inquiries about his background be made public.
"Let's put everything out," he told senators.
The confirmation hearing for Bolton, formerly the State Department's top nonproliferation official, will continue today with testimony from Carl W. Ford Jr., former head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and possibly other intelligence community witnesses.
Republicans have said they hope a committee vote on Bolton's nomination will take place Thursday.
Republicans dominate the panel by a 10-8 margin. The Democrats are expected to vote against Bolton, and they were trying Monday to persuade Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island to join them in rejecting the nomination.
