June 30, 1999
Washington -- Richard Holbrooke's long-delayed nomination to be UN ambassador won the unanimous backing Wednesday of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but a lone Republican continued to block it over a separate civil service dispute.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, persisted in his delaying tactics while raising the possibility that the impasse might soon be resolved. ``I think we can work this out by the end of the week if the State Department wants to,'' he said in an interview. He suggested tauntingly that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wasn't a fan of Holbrooke's ``and maybe she doesn't care if I hold this up.''
Grassley is protesting a State Department decision to transfer a senior staff member from a UN office in New York to a lesser post in Washington after she informed members of Congress about alleged waste and mismanagement within the United Nations. He contends the transfer and demotion violated a law that he sponsored protecting whistle-blowers.
His ``hold'' on the nomination is the latest obstacle thrown in the path of Holbrooke's yearlong effort to win Senate confirmation. Now an investment banker, the veteran diplomat was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace agreement and more recently served as the administration's envoy for Kosovo.
The committee vote was anticlimactic. Holbrooke's nomination was one of more than two dozen diplomatic nominations approved unanimously, by voice vote, without debate. Afterwards, Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., joked with State Department official Barbara Larkin that the vote was one of the quickest ever for his panel. Asked if she had anything to say, Larkin replied, ``Just, thank you very much.''
The committee vote sent the nomination to the Senate floor. Holbrooke supporters hoped it could be approved before Congress leaves town for its Fourth of July recess. But the hold by Grassley, who is not a member of the panel, remains in the way. By Senate tradition, any senator can block -- at least for a while -- any nomination for any reason.
Grassley said the civil servant, Linda Shenwick, should be restored to her former job as a budget and administrative officer at the U.S. mission to the UN in New York. But he said he'd settle for a ``mutually acceptable'' agreement between Ms. Shenwick and the State Department. Neither Secretary of State Madeleine Albright or any other State Department official has called him to try to work something out, he said. ``That raises the question: How badly does the secretary of state want this nomination to go through?'' Grassley asked. ``There have been some hints that Secretary Albright and Richard Holbrooke aren't always the best of friends. I'm not sure how bad she wants him up there. Maybe she doesn't care if I hold it up.''
State Department spokesman James Foley refused to comment Wednesday on new developments. But earlier in the week, spokesman James Rubin said the matter was ``under investigation.'' He denied that Albright had waged a ``vendetta'' against Ms. Shenwick.
Ms. Shenwick contends she was singled out by Albright, who served as UN ambassador in New York from 1993 until becoming secretary of state in 1997. ``What is happening to me should not happen in the United States of America,'' Ms. Shenwick said on ABC's ``Nightline'' Tuesday night. ``It certainly should not happen in a government office to a government employee who is telling the truth.''
Senators generally predicted the dispute would be overcome, but weren't sure how. ``Everything's resolvable around here,'' said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a committee member.
Clinton announced the nomination in June 1998, but it was delayed for nine months while the Justice and State departments investigated ethics allegations. The Foreign Relations panel then conducted its own investigation and held hearings on Holbrooke. The allegations mainly concerned Holbrooke's private-sector contacts and speaking fees after leaving the State Department in 1996. Without admitting wrongdoing, Holbrooke paid $5,000 to resolve most of the allegations.
The committee also approved the nominations of John Holum as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, and Donald Pressley as assistant administrator of the Agency for International Development.
