Kerry expected to get top foreign affairs panel post

November 19, 2008 11:38 AM Email| Comments (6)| Text size – +

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- More than three decades after he first appeared before the panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator John F. Kerry is widely expected to be named the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that will give him enormous influence over international relations.

Senator John F. Kerry

The pending announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, which congressional aides said could come as early as today, would elevate Kerry to the top of the foreign policy establishment and give him a major role in shaping President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy priorities.

Kerry, 64, who was elected to a fifth term in the US Senate from Massachusetts earlier this month, will be officially handed the gavel when the new congressional session convenes in January, according to multiple Capitol Hill sources. He will replace the outgoing chairman, Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Kerry is still considered by some observers to be on Obama's short list for secretary of state, but many believe Senator Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who both met with Obama last week about the post, are more likely to be the candidates for the nation's top diplomatic post.

Along with the Judiciary and Finance Committees, Foreign Relations was one of the first three committees established, in 1816. It is responsible for vetting treaties to be ratified by the full Senate and conducting the confirmation process for presidential nominees for the Department of State, including the nation's top diplomat and all its foreign ambassadors.

Moreover, the committee oversees the State Department budget and also funds foreign aid programs, helps set arms control policy, and authorizes military training for allied nations.

Kerry's path to the chairmanship would mark the end of a particularly unique journey. It began when he testified for nearly two hours before the committee on April 22, 1971, the first Vietnam veteran to do so. Speaking on behalf of other Vietnam veterans, he spoke of the "absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do" in Southeast Asia and appealed for an end to US military involvement.

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6 comments so far...

Well - the tendency of some states' electorates to name their Representatives and Senators to what are effectively life terms pays off again. Having read his paper on the Middle East prior to his '04 run for the Presidency, I was hoping that the Senator would wind up this time as....oh. Secretary of the Interior - but - noooooooooo, Thanks to the power of seniority, we now have him in control of the Senate Foreign Relations Commitee. God save the Republic............

Posted by Vercingetorix November 19, 08 12:14 PM

I wish him the best - It's all about power.

Posted by rcina November 19, 08 12:34 PM

John Kerry wants to be Sec. of State but it will not happen because he does not come close in stature or ability to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Kerry has no influence with anyone - he could not even convince the people of his own state of MA to vote for Obama over Hillary.

Kerry and Kennedy endorsed Obama but Hillary won the state of MA by 15 points - a LANDSLIDE.

And now she has defeated him for Sec. of State - what goes around comes around!

Posted by csh November 19, 08 01:25 PM

Fortunately, Senator Kerry will remain in the Senate, chairing the Foreign Relations Committee, which historically does nothing but non-value-added activity and whose principal output is hot air.

Senator Kerry is well-qualified to chair this Gilbert & Sullivan productions that are the commitee's stock-in-trade, and, in the Senate post, he will be thankfully isolated from responsibility for leadership and execution of any activities critical to the nation.

Posted by Mack November 19, 08 02:52 PM

Children have far more discretionary ability than adults. John Kerry was clearly a kid that other kids avoided like small pox. And for good reason; he's a fake , a snob, and a cheat. Just as he wasn`t allowed to play ball with the other kids,( he probably sucked any way) he shouldn`t be allowed, into the hallowed halls of the Senate. Shame on you imbeciles that voted for him. Then again, you were the only state to go for McGovern!!

Posted by Richard S Binder November 19, 08 03:15 PM

What is wrong with Obama. Senator Kerry is the the most qualified and experienced of the group he is considering. He also would be someone Obama could trust and their ideas on foreign policy mesh. So, Obama decides to go with Clinton? Richardson has the diplomatic background, but lacks in knowledge of military and other foreign policy areas.
Kerry's tallents are wasted in this positon. Unfortunately, he will forever be remembered as the man who lost to Bush. He must have been born under a dark cloud.

Posted by Mawc November 19, 08 09:12 PM