John Kerry set to be new Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman

By Michael J.W. Stickings

John Kerry likely won't be the next secretary of state, but he will nonetheless be a major player in U.S. foreign relations:

More than three decades after he first appeared before the panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator John F. Kerry will be named chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, giving him enormous influence over President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy, according to congressional officials.

Kerry, who was elected to a fifth term from Massachusetts earlier this month, will be handed the gavel when the new Congress convenes in January, replacing Vice President-elect Joe Biden, the officials said.

Aides to Kerry said he is already laying out a broad agenda for the committee, beginning with new legislation to strengthen the United States' hand against terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan; provide oversight of efforts to end the war in Iraq; and seize what he sees as a new opportunity to curtail the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

I would be happy to see Hillary at State, but my preference all along has been Kerry, with whom I am closer in policy terms. Still, the better job for Kerry may very well be the one he's about to get. He won't be the star out on the international diplomatic circuit, and he won't have quite the profile of whoever gets State, especially if it's Hillary, but I have no doubt he'll be an effective chairman of a key committee and a major influence on Obama's efforts to chart a new direction for U.S. foreign policy.