Bush names Bolton as U.N. ambassador

CNN:

Monday, August 1, 2005

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ending a five-month standoff over a controversial nomination, President Bush on Monday used a recess appointment to name John Bolton the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform," Bush said from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

The move bypasses the confirmation process in the Senate, where Democrats had blocked the nomination in a dispute over documents and accusations that Bolton lacks the temperament to hold the U.N. post.

"A majority of United States senators agree that he's the right man for the job," Bush said. "Yet because of partisan-delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up-or-down vote that he deserves."

Senate GOP leaders twice failed to muster the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster and move Bolton's nomination to a floor vote.

Although the split was largely along party lines, one Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, joined Democrats in opposing Bolton's nomination.

Under the Constitution, the president has the power to make temporary appointments without Senate confirmation when Congress goes into recess. Lawmakers began their current break Friday.

A recess appointment puts Bolton at the United Nations through the end of 2006. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bolton planned to take the oath of office and head to U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

Standing beside Bush on Monday, Bolton said he was "profoundly honored." "I am prepared to work tirelessly to carry out the agenda and initiatives that you [Bush] and Secretary [of State Condoleezza] Rice direct," Bolton said. "We seek a stronger, more effective organization true to the ideals of its founders and agile enough to act in the 21st century.

"It will be a distinct privilege to be an advocate for America's values and interests at the U.N."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, criticized the recess appointment. "The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues," Kennedy said in a statement.

"It's bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It's even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N."

Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Indiana, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, lamented that Bolton failed to receive a vote from the full Senate but said the appointment "was necessary to ensure our representation at the United Nations and to provide momentum to the vital process of U.N. reform."

Commenting before the announcement, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said that "everybody at the U.N. will know that he's the president's man."

"Yes, he's a tough guy, but I think they appreciate the fact that the president felt at this time in the U.N.'s history, when it could use a little tough love, John Bolton is the kind of guy to do the job that the president wants done there," Kyl said.

Hints of recess appointment

Democrats have said Bolton, who was a State Department undersecretary, lacked the diplomatic skills for the post, arguing he dismissed the value of the United Nations and often intimidated subordinates until they agreed with his viewpoint. A former colleague testified in April that Bolton was "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy."

Senate Democrats held up the nomination after the White House refused, citing executive privilege, to provide records of communications intercepts Bolton sought from the National Security Agency when he was the State Department's point man on arms control.

In recent days, Democrats also complained that Bolton gave the Senate false information.

The State Department last week acknowledged that Bolton incorrectly told the Foreign Relations Committee in a questionnaire that he had not been interviewed as part of any investigation within the past five years.

The department said its inspector general interviewed Bolton as part of a joint probe by the State Department and CIA into alleged attempts by Iraq to procure uranium from Niger.

That admission prompted one of the committee's Democrats, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, to call on Bush to pull Bolton's nomination.

McClellan hinted Friday at a recess appointment, saying it was important to have an ambassador by September, when the U.N.'s General Assembly will meet.

"We need our permanent representative in place at the United Nations at this critical time," he said. "There is an effort under way to move forward on comprehensive reform. We have outlined the comprehensive reforms that we want to see put in place to make sure that the United Nations is an effective multilateral organization."

The United States has been without a permanent representative at the United Nations since January when former Sen. John Danforth resigned to spend more time with his ailing wife. Acting Ambassador Anne Patterson is leading the U.N. mission in New York.

At U.N. headquarters, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "We look forward to working with [Bolton], as I do with the other 190 ambassadors. And we will welcome him at a time when we are in the midst of major reform."

Annan said he knows Bolton and considers him "very bright." He said he was notified of the president's decision before the announcement.