Frist, McCain call for vote on Bolton
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| | JOHN R. BOLTON | AGE: 56; born November 20, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Yale University, summa cum laude, 1970; law degree from Yale Law School, 1974
EXPERIENCE: Undersecretary of state for arms control and international security since May 11, 2001; assistant U.S. attorney general, 1985-1989; assistant administrator for program and policy coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; general counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982; associate at the Washington office of Covington & Burlington, 1974-81; partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton & McManus, 1993-99
FAMILY: Married to the former Gretchen Brainerd; one daughter.
Source: AP
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and fellow Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona joined forces Tuesday to portray Democrats as obstructionists to the nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, pressing the urgency of filling the post with the president's pick.
"Now we're at a point where the filibuster against Bolton -- and yes, I'll call it a filibuster until we get an up-or-down vote -- is continuing," Frist said.
The Democrats' actions, he said, "demonstrate that the other side is unreasonably and irresponsibly filibustering this nomination."
McCain was among a bipartisan group of senators who reached an agreement last month to avert a showdown over President Bush's filibustered judicial nominees. (Related story.)
Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, have demanded the Bush administration produce 10 National Security Agency communication intercepts that Bolton, the State Department's undersecretary for arms control, had requested since 2001. (Related story)
The documents contain the names of government officials whose communications were secretly reported. Biden has said they could reveal whether Bolton attempted "to badger or ... to change the views of intelligence officers."
Another set of documents sought by Biden and Dodd concern Syria and may or may not support testimony Bolton once gave before a Senate committee.
The Bush administration says it has no plans to turn over the documents, citing executive privilege, and calls the request nothing more than a stall tactic.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the documents showed no problems.
"At the request of my colleagues," Roberts said, "I have directed staff to examine Undersecretary Bolton's use of intelligence and after careful review, the Senate Intelligence Committee continues to find no evidence of abuse. I am prepared to assist in any reasonable effort to examine the facts, but an examination of upwards of 40 names appears to be an effort to preserve the issue, not to resolve it."
The Democrats have listed 40 "names of concern," saying they want assurance that Bolton did not misuse his access to classified material to seek information about them.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said that without the documents, the Democrats would not allow a vote.
Frist, however, said he believes all the questions have been adequately answered and the Democrats are "irresponsibly filibustering."
"It's been 200 days that this vacancy sign above our U.N. ambassador's door in New York has been blinking," he said. "It is now the time to end that."
McCain said negotiations are under way with Biden and Dodd but agreed with Frist that the position must be filled.
"I think it is very important that the United States is represented at the United Nations," he said. "I believe that John Bolton has proven his credentials. I also believe the president should be allowed to appoint his own team in a position as important as U.N. ambassador."
Both Republicans said they hoped to see a cloture vote ending debate on the nomination later this week, but neither addressed the possibility of Democrats sticking to Reid's "no documents-no vote" pledge.
Just a few weeks ago, the Senate was embroiled in a similar stalemate over President Bush's nominations to the federal appeals courts, and Frist threatened to use the so-called "nuclear option" -- altering the Senate rules, with the aid of Vice President Dick Cheney, the Senate's president, if necessary -- to force a floor vote. (Related story)
Fourteen senators -- seven Democrats and seven Republicans -- inked a deal at the last minute to avoid Frist's threat. The Democrats agreed to cast their votes for cloture for some of the nominees in return for the Republicans' promise not to support the "nuclear option."
Last month -- just days after the compromise on the judicial nominees -- the Senate fell four votes shy of the requisite 60 to end debate on Bolton. (Related story)
Bolton's nomination passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations without a recommendation -- an unusual occurrence -- after Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio said he had serious questions about the nomination that would prevent him from voting it out of committee with a positive recommendation.
Voinovich gave an impassioned plea against the nomination last week on the floor of the Senate, urging his colleagues to vote against Bolton and saying that if the votes were cast in secret, Bolton would not be confirmed.
Frist and McCain, however, say they have the votes to confirm Bolton's nomination.
Democrats also have charged that Bolton doesn't have the necessary diplomatic skills for the job, having often bullied or intimidated his staff until they agreed with his viewpoint on issues. One of Bolton's former colleagues testified in early April that Bolton was "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy."
Bolton is also on record dismissing the value of the United Nations.
