Senators Divided on Keeping Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

KWAME HOLMAN: Democrats tried to suggest that in his tenure the ambassador has been ineffective in his leadership regarding several global trouble spots. Barack Obama of Illinois asked about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: So I'm wondering specifically what is your office doing at this stage to move us off the status quo?

JOHN BOLTON: I agree that the Darfur peace agreement is in jeopardy. Despite commitments made by the government of Sudan previously, they continue to say they will not accept a U.N. force in Darfur.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: We know Sudan is going to be recalcitrant and intransigent. And so, precisely for that reason, I think it's important we use some of our diplomatic skills and apply them to pressure some of the others who are supporting Sudan. And I'm not sure we've used all our diplomatic cards on this one.

KWAME HOLMAN: And John Kerry of Massachusetts pressed the ambassador on how to rein in North Korea.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), Massachusetts: Well, how are you going to achieve this if you're not going to have sanctions, if you don't have the other countries prepared to have the sanctions? The reason you don't have sanctions is they weren't prepared to do it, isn't that correct?

JOHN BOLTON: No, because that was not part of our original resolution. The first step here was to pass this resolution...

SEN. JOHN KERRY: You're telling me they would be prepared to impose sanctions?

JOHN BOLTON: It was our judgment that the best way to proceed was along the lines that are now embodied in Resolution 1695. That is certainly not to say that the council might not take other steps in the future. But the steps we sought to take, we have now taken unanimously.

KWAME HOLMAN: And overarching today's hearing, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants. Joseph Biden, the committee's top Democrat, asked if the U.S. should have done more to help Lebanon meet the conditions of U.N. Resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), Delaware: What we're doing right now is what 1559 was supposed to do. My question is: Was there any action taken to generate the same kind of consensus and support for bringing in what we're trying to do right now? We're trying to get a consensus to bring in an international force that can shoot straight, that can sit along the Israeli border.

And I assume part of what we're doing -- I hope to heck we're doing -- is coming up with initiatives as to how we're going to help, either through the French, through NATO, or through other means, to train up a Lebanese army that can actually ultimately supplant that force.

JOHN BOLTON: Well, I think much of the work that has to be done to strengthen Lebanese institutions is being done on a bilateral basis, directly between the United States and Lebanon, but there are a variety of things that were done in New York, specifically at the suggestion of the Lebanese government, that were communicated to us and France and others that we followed through on that I do think have had a significant impact.

KWAME HOLMAN: Committee Republicans argued that Ambassador Bolton has been successful at the U.N. and is capably guiding U.S. foreign policy. Mel Martinez of Florida.

SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), Florida: You have been a resolute and clear spokesperson to advance the president's foreign policy. And at the time, we have only one president. We have only one foreign policy. It is this president's foreign policy, and you've been an astute and strong advocate for that.

KWAME HOLMAN: And when two protestors tried to disrupt the proceedings, Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman said their anger, like many criticisms of Bolton, was misdirected.

SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R), Minnesota: I would bet that, if you asked the two protestors that we had, to cite a single statement of John Bolton or a single action of John Bolton that they object to, I doubt that they could do it. Their opposition is to U.S. policy.

Even amongst us on this side of the table, I think it's fair to say we don't always agree. We don't always agree with this administration. But I think what we do fundamentally agree with is a belief that the president has a right to have his voice and his representation, somebody he trusts representing us at the United Nations.

KWAME HOLMAN: The committee will vote on the nomination and send it to the full Senate, where Democrats have not yet said whether they again will try to block an up-or-down vote. Bolton's recess appointment as U.N. ambassador expires in January.