Disarmament Diplomacy

News Review

Controversial Bush Arms Control Nominee Confirmed

On May 8, the US Senate narrowly - by 57 votes to 43 - approved the appointment of John Bolton as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. As reported in the last issue, Bolton's nomination has been vehemently contested by Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee and elsewhere who point to his record of opposing major arms control accords such as the CTBT and the ABM Treaty. All 50 Senate Republicans, plus seven Democrats, supported the President's choice.

Speaking on the day the appointment was confirmed, Democratic Senator Joseph Biden cautioned that Bolton "would handle some of our most sensitive and difficult negotiations. ... [His] penchant for inflammatory rhetoric gives me pause about his ability to handle such negotiations." Democrat Senator Byron Dorgan had the following appraisal (May 8) of Bolton's confirmation: "The world is going to see...[this] appointment as another sign of the President's...unilateralist policy: ...let's get rid of the ABM Treaty or ignore it, build a destabilising national missile defence system, abandon the Kyoto Treaty, suspend missile talks with North Korea, oppose the International Criminal Court and the international landmine convention..."

Republican Senator and Foreign Relations Chair Jesse Helms, however, had no qualms about the appointment, observing (May 8): "John Bolton is precisely the kind of citizen whom the United States desperately needs at this difficult time to have an important role in the protection of the American people from the threat of missile attack..."

Reports: Senate confirms Bolton on State Department arms control post, US State Department (Washington File), May 8; Senate OKs Bolton for State Dept., Associated press, May 8.

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