The US Senate Armed Services Committee voted
Tuesday to support former senator Chuck Hagel's nomination to become
defence secretary.
The committee's recommendation for Hagel's confirmation will be
sent to the 100-member full Senate, where a majority is needed to
approve his nomination by President Barack Obama to lead the
Pentagon.
Hagel, 66, a twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran who served 12
years in the Senate from Nebraska, is a Republican who has often
dissented from his conservative party on defence and foreign policy.
Obama, a member of the left-leaning Democratic Party, served with
Hagel in the Senate.
Hagel's confirmation is expected to pass the upper chamber, where
the Democrats hold a majority. The vote was scheduled for Thursday.
Republicans on the Armed Services Committee all voted against
Hagel, citing objections to his current or past positions on issues
including support for Israel and the Iranian nuclear programme.
Republicans led by Senator John McCain grilled Hagel during a
January 31 confirmation hearing.
The committee voted Tuesday was along party lines, 14-11.
"You can only judge somebody by their past performance in order to
predict what their future performance will be," McCain said during
Tuesday's two-hour committee debate.
"His performance before this committee was the worst that I have
seen of any nominee for office. He refused to answer a simple,
straightforward question as to whether the (2007 Iraq troop) surge
was a success or not, and whether he supported it or not. That
(surge) was a key moment in the history of this country."
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, defended Hagel.
"For anybody to suggest that he's not qualified ... to be the
secretary of defence, I think, is just not accurate and reflects
certainly a different understanding of his background and his
experience than I have," she said.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Hagel's opinions and
past votes including opposition to legislation putting US sanctions
on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Graham referred to the looming US withdrawal from Afghanistan next
year and the Syrian civil war's potential to destabilize the Middle
East: "The next secretary of defence is going to have to deal with a
world on fire, and I just believe that the testimony of Senator Hagel
was not reassuring."
He said there were "very few people who have been this wrong about
so many different things, and I cannot in good conscience support
this nomination, because I think it's sending the worst possible
signal to our friends and our enemies alike."
If confirmed by the Senate, Hagel, who volunteered for the Army
and requested combat duty in Vietnam, would be the first defence
secretary to have previously served as an enlisted soldier, rather
than an officer. Hagel would succeed Leon Panetta, who wants to step
aside.
