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By Dafna Linzer
The Washington Post
Friday 10 November 2006
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Key lawmakers said yesterday they would block the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, all
but killing chances for him to remain in the post past December.
For nearly 20 months, President Bush has tried, unsuccessfully, to get Bolton confirmed in a job he has held since
August 2005. Bolton then received a recess appointment after not getting enough support in the Senate.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and its presumed chairman when
the Democrats take control of the Senate in January, said yesterday that Bolton's nomination is "going nowhere."
"I see no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again in the Foreign Relations Committee because, regardless of
what happens there, he is unlikely to be considered by the full Senate," Biden said in a statement.
The White House had hoped Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), a moderate Republican who earlier raised questions about
Bolton and the administration's policies in the Middle East, would support Bolton after the election. But Chafee lost
his seat Tuesday.
"On Tuesday, the American people sent a clear message of dissatisfaction with the foreign policy approach of the Bush
administration," Chafee said in a statement. "To confirm Mr. Bolton to the position of U.N. ambassador would fly in the
face of the clear consensus of the country that a new direction is called for." Chafee said Bolton lacks the
"collaborative approach" needed to make the United States "the strongest country in a peaceful world."
Without Chafee's support, Republicans on the committee do not have enough votes to recommend Bolton's confirmation.
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