Senate Confirms John Kerry As U.S. Secretary Of State

[ProSense]

Senate Confirms John Kerry As U.S. Secretary Of State

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as the nation's next secretary of state on Tuesday. The vote was 94 to 3. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jim Inhofe (R-(OK)) voted against confirmation. Kerry himself voted present.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/senate-confirms-john-kerry-as-us-secretary-of

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves Nomination of John Kerry for Secretary of State

Washington, DC – At a business meeting led by Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) this morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote the nomination of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to the post of Secretary of State.

Following their approval of Sen. Kerry’s nomination, committee members presented Kerry with a committee resolution honoring his service as its chairman.

The full text of the resolution is below:

113th CONGRESS
1st SESSION
S. RES. 551

Committee on Foreign Relations

United States Senate

Committee Resolution

Whereas Hon. John F. Kerry has served;

Whereas John Kerry was sworn into the United States Senate in 1985 and for 28 years has served Massachusetts and the United States with honor, conviction and a sense of civility that is grounded in respect for others and for the seriousness of the times;

Whereas John Kerry appeared before the Committee on Foreign Relations at the invitation of Chairman Fulbright in 1971 to give voice to veterans opposed to the Vietnam War;

Whereas John Kerry has played a central role in U.S. foreign policy for more than four decades, bringing a steady hand, responsible leadership and thoughtful analysis to multiple crises and challenges;

Whereas John Kerry forged a partnership with Senator John S. McCain that led to an effort to investigate the fate of American soldiers unaccounted for in Vietnam, and a subsequent effort to lift the trade embargo and ultimately normalize relations with a former enemy, Vietnam;

Whereas John Kerry has led difficult, sensitive and comprehensive investigations in the Senate on everything from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and illegal money laundering to the Noriega regime in Panama;

Whereas John Kerry was a leading advocate for democratic elections in the Philippines, serving with Senator Lugar as part of a Senate delegation that uncovered the fraud that led to the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos;

Whereas John Kerry worked with Cambodian government officials and the United Nations to facilitate the creation of the genocide tribunal in Cambodia to prosecute key members of the Khmer Rouge;

Whereas John Kerry has been a strong and persistent advocate of programs that help secure nuclear, biological and chemical weapons stockpiles and materials so they do not fall into the hands of hostile states or terrorists;

Whereas John Kerry has been at the forefront of efforts to tighten U.S. anti-money laundering laws and to ban arms exports to countries that provide support for acts of international terrorism;

Whereas John Kerry has brought great skill to his stewardship of the Committee on Foreign Relations;

Whereas John Kerry’s patience, fair-mindedness and tenacity were invaluable in securing Senate advice and consent to ratification of the New START Treaty with Russia;

Whereas John Kerry has earned broad respect for the way he pragmatically and thoughtfully approaches the challenges of Afghanistan and Pakistan;

Whereas John Kerry has been a strong supporter of the NATO Alliance and its continuing evolution to protect the West from challenges both new and old;

Whereas John Kerry’s early and bold advocacy of a no-fly zone over Libya helped save thousands of civilians from being massacred;

Whereas John Kerry was a voice of courage and conscience in calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step aside and begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system in Egypt;

Whereas John Kerry has been a tireless advocate for the cause of peace in Sudan and South Sudan and played an instrumental role in the successful referendum in 2011;

Whereas John Kerry’s bipartisan work with former Majority Leader Bill Frist on comprehensive HIV/AIDS legislation laid the foundation for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a program that provides life-saving treatment for people with HIV/AIDS and supports broad prevention efforts that save lives every day;

Whereas John Kerry continued to fight for the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS by spearheading the effort to remove the HIV visa ban;

Whereas John Kerry has been the keeper of the Senate’s conscience on global climate change and the transition to a clean energy future;

Whereas, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, John Kerry has convened eight major hearings and roundtables on climate change and energy security, underscoring their connection to global stability, economic competitiveness and America’s national security;

Whereas John Kerry has fought for our nation’s foreign service officers, civil service professionals and development experts with uncommon passion and commitment;

Whereas John Kerry will bring decades of experience in international affairs to the post of United States Secretary of State, the capstone to an already distinguished life spent in public service; and

Whereas John Kerry will be the ninth Secretary of State from Massachusetts, continuing in the footsteps of leaders including John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster, and, joined by figures such as Henry Clay, he is the fourth Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ascend to this cabinet post and the first as Chairman since John Sherman who served from 1897-1898;

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Committee on Foreign Relations—

1. Commends the long and distinguished service of John F. Kerry, whose exceptional skill as a lawmaker is matched only by his commitment to an America that is, in President John F. Kennedy’s phrase, not “first but, first when, first if, but first period”; and
   
2. Extends its best wishes for his continuing service to the Nation.

http://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/release/senate-foreign-relations-committee-approves-nomination-of-john-kerry-for-secretary-of-state

Congratulations, Secretary Of State John Kerry.

[Berlum]

1. Kerry lost the Chickenhawk Republican vote

Hoooray!

[brooklynite]

2. Who were the three "no" votes?

[ProSense]

4. It's in the OP. n/t

[karynnj]

6. Cruz, Cornyn and Inhofe

I bet the far right is none to happy that so many of their right wing darlings voted yes. It kind of proves that all their lies, smears and distortions were not believed even by them.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

20. This new Cruz guy is turning out to be a super asshole. I heard him say he

would oppose Kerry...blah blah blah. And I am thinking, you are brand new to the Senate and national political scene. You probably know close to zero about the inner workings of federal government. You probably know close to zero about Kerry's accomplishments. Who the hell do you think you are (idiot) coming out against him. It's like he did it just to say he bucked the system instead of an educated assessment.

[longship]

3. Advise and consent. The Constitution works, apparently.

In spite of the Senate Republicans.

Hillary Clinton has big shoes to fill. I am sure Kerry will do so. Barack Obama makes some very good choices. With respect to the Secretary of State, our president has done very well indeed. It's only the most important cabinet position.

My president, you've chosen well.
Thank you.

[karynnj]

5. I love the resolution!

and I love the respect that he has engendered among his colleagues. This is about as personal a recommendation I have ever seen from the Senate.

[ProSense]

12. It's awesome.

Reminded me of a post I did on the tribunal.

History Repeating Itself: Kerry-Brokered Cambodia Tribunal Set To Begin
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=905152&mesg_id=905152

[karynnj]

23. I thought immediately of your well researched post - I had never heard of that before it was on DU

The tribute takes so many things like that for which he never was given much publicity. I was also glad to see that they put in the AIDS in Africa thing that he got Frist to join him on.

[WilliamPitt]

7. ...and to forestall the inevitable hand-wringing about his Senate seat:

1. Brown has not declared yet, and might not; even money has him running for Governor instead;

2. Markey and Lynch are damned good candidates;

3. Brown was an unknown quantity when he ran last time; he is now all too well known, and he won't get the New Guy Free Ride if he does run.

So.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

21. Hope you are right...saw a poll this morning and it had Brown up about 20 over Markey. nt

[WilliamPitt]

22. Meaningless.

No one has started campaigning. Hell, Brown hasn't even declared yet.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

24. Yes, but MA knows Brown and knows Markey

[TwilightGardener]

8. Ha, he voted "present". Good luck, Secretary Kerry!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. This is excellent news! Congratulations, Sec'y of State Kerry!

[sadbear]

10. Bittersweet moment.

Will Kerry retire from public service in four years? (Of course, had he won in 2004, he would probably be retired from public service right now. It would have definitely been worth it.)

[karynnj]

11. He will be 73

If he is a successful diplomat, I could imagine that he could be asked by a later President to be a special envoy - like Mitchell was.

It would also be great if he were able to distill meaning from all he has seen and write about it. From both his book (with Teresa) and the excerpts of his journal quoted in Tour of Duty, he is a very good writer and very very insightful. After 4 years as SOS, I can't imagine anyone who could write a more important, visionary book on foreign policy.

[ProSense]

13. Here's a wonderful

post by Think Progress:

Senate Approves John Kerry As Secretary of State
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/01/29/1510871/senate-approves-kerry-state/

[patrice]

14. This is good!!!

[Boomerproud]

15. Good and comforting news indeed!

[politicasista]

17. +1

[JDPriestly]

16. Wow! What a list of accomplishments.

And he is only now starting to his greatest work.

We are going to miss him, sorely miss him, in Congress.

I still cannot understand how GWBush could have been elected when he ran against John Kerry. There is simply no scale on which Kerry could be surpassed by GWBush. What happened there?

[ProSense]

18. It's incredible.

Well-deserved recognition.

[YvonneCa]

25. Isn't there a book with that...

...title? 'What Really Happened in Ohio' ?

[Cha]

19. John Kerry is absolutely the best one for the job.. Many knew that

the whole time and that is exactly why he got it.

And, now getting blocked by the gop for CFPB.. Elizabeth Warren is now the Senior Senator from Massachusetts. See how that works?

[ellisonz]

26. woot

[freshwest]

27. That is beautiful. Thanks for posting those events in history made by John Kerry. n/t