Danforth praised at hearing for U.N. post
From Karla Crosswhite-Chigbue
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With words such as "integrity," "honesty" and "intellect," Republican and Democratic senators alike praised former Sen. John Danforth Thursday during his confirmation hearing to become U.N. ambassador.
"Three weeks ago, I was sitting in my office having a perfectly fine life," said Danforth, 67, a Republican who represented Missouri in the Senate for 18 years before retiring in 1995.
But when President Bush called to ask him to take the U.N. post, "I knew I couldn't say no," Danforth told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding that he hopes he can help "glue things back together" at the world body, where relations have been frayed by the Iraq war.
Danforth told senators that Bush told him, "We can't win the war on terror without the United Nations."
The committee's chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, said "the job before Sen. Danforth is a daunting one that will require all his talents and experience."
In his written statement, Danforth said, "I know I will face numerous issues at the United Nations. With only a very short time to prepare, I am hardly an expert in all of the areas that will be in my portfolio."
Danforth has served as Bush's special envoy to war-torn Sudan since September 2001. An ordained Episcopal priest, he also presided last week at the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.
After serving in the Senate for three terms, Danforth was then tapped by the Clinton administration to conduct an independent investigation of the fiery 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
His report exonerated the government and federal agents of any wrongdoing in the siege, but it did fault some members of the Justice Department for not revealing immediately to the public some details about that siege.
Danforth played a lead role in shepherding Clarence Thomas through his 1991 Senate confirmation hearings. Those hearings erupted into a sensational debate on sexual harassment in the workplace after Anita Hill accused Thomas of making inappropriate sexual comments when the two worked together.
Danforth's book on the Thomas nomination, "Resurrection: The Confirmation of Clarence Thomas," was published in 1994.
Danforth was also a key player in the Civil Rights Act of 1991, helping to move that legislation through Congress. After leaving the Senate, he returned to his hometown of St. Louis to practice law.
A former state auditor and state attorney general, Danforth is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale's law and divinity schools. He was admitted to both the bar and the clergy in 1963.
Danforth's family founded Ralston Purina, and one of his brothers was the longtime chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.
The ranking Democrat on the foreign relations panel, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said that while he and Danforth had disagreements when they served together in the Senate, "The country is fortunate to have a man of Jack's stature come back and take this job on."
Committee staff say they hope to have Danforth confirmed and on the job by the end of the month. He will replace John Negroponte, who has been tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
