Jesse Helms' committee confirms Moseley-Braun nomination; he dissents

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Monday to confirm the nomination of former Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand.

By a vote of 17-1, the committee approved Moseley-Braun's nomination after weeks of resistance from Chairman Jesse Helms over questions of what he called "ethical misconduct."

The North Carolina Republican was the sole senator on the committee to vote against Moseley-Braun. It was not immediately clear when the full Senate will take up the nomination.

He finally scheduled a hearing on the nomination last Friday after receiving documents he had requested from the White House, Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service relating to allegations of ethics abuses.

Helms, who had a stormy relationship with Moseley-Braun during her Senate term, did not attend Friday's hearing -- which was replete with words of praise from her former colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Georgia) was given the task of asking Moseley-Braun specific questions about allegations she misused campaign funds and about her controversial trips to Nigeria to meet with then-dictator Sani Abacha. Most senators seemed satisfied with her answers.

Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, was defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald after a campaign based largely on the same allegations of ethical abuses brought up by Helms.

Jesse Helms' committee confirms Moseley-Braun nomination; he dissents

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Monday, November 8, 1999