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Who’s Afraid of Condoleezza Rice? Senate Examines Secretary Nominee

On January 18 and 19, 2005, The Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducted a hearing to determine if Condoleezza Rice was fit to become the new Secretary of State.

The committee approved her nomination with a 16-2 vote, but the entire Senate won’t vote on the matter until January 26th, because Democrats have demanded a floor debate.

Democrats delay vote

Democrats claim that they don’t want to automatically approve or "rubber stamp" Rice’s nomination. They say Americans deserve a hearty debate over their new Secretary of State, because the Congress has not had a hearty debate about the outcomes of the Bush foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. They criticize the administration for misleading the American public about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as the cause for the war in Iraq.

As National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice has been a key presidential advisor on Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other nation that is considered a security threat. To what extent should she be held accountable for the record of the administration?

What does the Secretary of State do?

The Secretary of State heads the State Department, which is the part of the executive branch of the federal government that conducts U.S. foreign policy. All the jobs in the State Department are appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate. They gather information, provide advice, and maintain the formal contacts of our government with every other national government.

The State Department, created in 1789, greatly affects the way that the U.S. interacts with the world. The Secretary is the highest-ranking member of the cabinet and fourth in the line of succession to the presidency.

Although the Secretary of State has no lawmaking power, she or he has the president’s ear, and this consultative power can, depending on that relationship, be more potent than a Senator’s legislative power.

Boxing with Boxer

The power to influence the president is precisely the matter of concern for the Democrats. During the committee hearing, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was highly critical of Rice’s role in the Iraq war. Boxer accused Rice of failing to confess that the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction were the cause of the war and that the mission was then changed once the WMDs were not found. Inadequate information or inadequate decision-making are part of the problem. Not informing the public or deliberately misleading the public are additional serious charges.

Continuing this critique was Senator John F. Kerry, who, along with Boxer, voted against Rice’s confirmation. With language that mirrored that of his campaign speeches, Kerry criticized Rice for helping to create foreign policy that has alienated the U.S. from the international community. If she agreed with the president’s aggressive approach to other governments, is she then the right spokesperson for the face-to-face encounters with heads of state and ministers of foreign affairs of the other nations.

Rice, for her part, both defended her decisions and the administration’s in the last term, explained that no matter what private advice she may have given the president she has and always will tell the American people what he wants them to know. However she also promised to create more international support for the next term than the administration wanted or got in the first term. Is that a presidential decision? How else can she make a promise?

Accountability

Ultimately, Rice is not accountable to the American people, only elected officials are. And she made that point in her testimony to the Senate committee. The president and the Senate are responsible for members of the cabinet - they appoint them and can remove them from office. Therefore, the actions of the cabinet should inform our vote for both our Senators and our president; Bush’s reelection is, therefore, taken as approval by the majority of those who chose to vote. The only way the minority party can educate the public is by insisting on open debate in the Congress - if the majority party permits it. If debate happens, will the media report it?

40% of the eligible American people did not vote. 59 million Americans voted against the Republican position and presidential candidate. But Republicans hold the majority in both houses of the Congress, giving them a majority on every committee - including this one that decides whether the whole Senate gets to vote on Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State.

Every day it becomes clear that voters need to know the details of what happens in our government and how the political system works. Every day the majority rules. Every day every vote in an election counts.

What do you think?

What do you think of our foreign policy to date? How would you have voted on this nomination?

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Update Posted on: 1/27/2005