[R-G] Kerry named head of foreign relations panel

[Anthony Fenton]

Kerry named head of foreign relations panel

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff  |  December 16, 2008

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/12/16/kerry_named_head_of_foreign_relations_panel/

WASHINGTON - Senator John F. Kerry was named chairman of the Foreign  
Relations Committee yesterday, pledging to use his stewardship of the  
influential panel to strengthen American interests in Afghanistan and  
Pakistan, help end the war in Iraq, and craft solutions to the climate  
change crisis.

The Massachusetts Democrat is already on an extended tour of trouble  
spots that will probably consume the foreign policy attention of  
President-elect Barack Obama. Kerry met yesterday with leaders in  
Pakistan and India, trying to ease tensions between the two nuclear  
powers over the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

He next goes to Afghanistan, where Obama wants to deploy thousands of  
additional troops to fight the war on terrorism. The first stop on  
Kerry's itinerary, which began over the weekend, was the Republic of  
Georgia, the front line in Russia's more aggressive stance against the  
West. On Sunday, he and Obama talked about a global warming conference  
in Poland that Kerry attended.

"We have a big agenda ahead of us, just as our country faces big  
challenges across the globe," Kerry said in a statement from  
Islamabad, Pakistan.

Kerry, who has sat on the committee for 24 years and first came to  
public notice when he testified before the panel in opposition to the  
Vietnam War, was elevated to the chairmanship by Senate majority  
leader Harry Reid after he lost out to Hillary Clinton to be Obama's  
secretary of state.

Kerry is set to take over for the outgoing chairman, Vice President- 
elect Joe Biden, at a crucial time. Aides said the stops on his  
foreign trip highlight some of the core issues he will have to deal.

Over the weekend Kerry met in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi with  
Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili and President Mikheil  
Saakashvili, who are still reeling from the Russian invasion of their  
territory in August and are seeking membership in the NATO alliance.

Yesterday, Kerry met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New  
Delhi before traveling to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan President  
Asif Ali Zardari and other leaders.

Kerry had tough words for his Pakistani hosts, saying that the  
government must shut down terrorist training camps like those believed  
to be have been used by the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks last  
month.

"It's imperative to comply and terrorist camps should be shut down,"  
Kerry told reporters after holding talks with the Indian external  
affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, according to local media reports.

Speaking of the spate of attacks that killed nearly 200 people in  
India's financial center, Kerry added: "We know it was all planned in  
Pakistan and we are very, very confident that evidence will be  
presented at the right time."

Today, Kerry is to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and  
visit US troops from Massachusetts who are serving there, according to  
his Senate office.

The Senate Foreign Relations chairmanship remains among the most  
prized in the Senate. It is responsible for vetting international  
treaties, conducting the confirmation hearings for presidential  
nominees for the State Department, and overseeing the State Department  
budget. The panel also helps set policy for foreign aid and arms  
control programs and authorizes military training for allied nations.

Kerry, in his statement yesterday, cited two legendary chairmen of the  
committee, one from each political party, in promising to seek  
bipartisan policies.

"Whether it was under the Republican chairman [Arthur] Vandenberg or  
the great Democratic chairman William Fulbright, this committee has  
always stood for the best of American foreign policy," Kerry said.

Kerry has been preparing to take leadership of the committee for  
several weeks. Last week, he met with Clinton to iron out any issues  
that might arise during her confirmation hearing. Kerry also appointed  
a new spokesman for the committee: Frederick L. Jones II, a former  
career foreign service officer and spokesman for the National Security  
Council under President Bush.

Bryan Bender can be reached at bender at globe.com