Editorials
Thursday, July 8, 1999Confirm Holbrooke as
U.N. ambassadorREPUBLICAN Senate leaders and the White House have been at odds through much of the Clinton administration over the process of confirming Clinton nominations to high posts. Compromises reached this year seemed to resolve those differences, but Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has ignored those agreements to secretly block the nomination of Richard Holbrooke as United Nations ambassador. The confirmation process again is in danger unless Lott stands aside and allows Holbrooke to be confirmed.The issue: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has blocked confirmation of Richard Holbrooke as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to apply pressure on another appointment.
Clinton appointees have had to wait an average of more than eight months to be confirmed to their positions, resulting in a vacancy rate of more than 25 percent. The waiting time compares with an average of five months during the Reagan administration and less than three months for Kennedy appointees.
Senate rules have allowed a single senator to block confirmation of any appointee, and the senator's name could be kept confidential. In February, Republicans and Democrats decided that senators seeking a hold had to identify themselves to the majority leader and chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over the appointee.
Holbrooke, the former ambassador to Germany and assistant secretary of state who authored the 1995 Dayton accord that ended the war in Bosnia, was nominated as U.N. ambassador in June of last year. Confirmation was legitimately delayed for completion of an ethics investigations mainly over his acceptance of speaking fees after leaving his job as assistant secretary of state in 1995. He was fined but did not admit to misconduct.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved Holbrooke's nomination last week. However, Lott secretly put off a full Senate vote on Holbrooke in an effort to put leverage on the White House to appoint a conservative Ohio professor to the Federal Election Commission. The Clinton administration complained that the professor's writings suggest he opposes most campaign finance regulation. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the professor's chief advocate, joined Lott in secretly blocking the nomination. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who had previously blocked the vote on Holbrooke's nomination, and Sen. Voinovich, R-Ohio, joined Lott and McConnell in the latest tactic. Other senators may have joined that foursome in blocking a vote on the Senate floor.
Confidentiality that was intended to encourage Senate consensus on executive nominations has been abused in this case, and the spirit of the agreement with the White House appears to have been violated.
The opposition to a vote on the nomination has nothing to do with the capability of Holbrooke, who is highly qualified to be ambassador to the U.N. Further delay of his confirmation is not warranted and should not be sidetracked by a dispute over filling an unrelated federal vacancy.
Women’s pro soccer
WOMEN'S soccer has reached unprecedented levels of public interest on the way to this Saturday's championship match between the United States and China. While American success in women's soccer competition is not new, the attention is sudden and unexpected. It is not likely to, nor should it, be regarded as a passing fancy.
Women have been playing organized soccer or, as they say in Europe, football for nearly two centuries, but it was given an important kick forward in the United States by Title IX, the 1972 law co-authored by Rep. Patsy Mink that eliminated sex discrimination in education. The law required expansion of sports participation by girls and women, and made athletic scholarships more available to females.
In 1991, the U.S. quickly achieved supremacy as the Brazil of world soccer, winning the first Women's World Cup over Norway, although relatively few American sports fans noticed. Norway won the second World Cup four years later. The third title match, to be played at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, is sold out with an anticipated record crowd of more than 85,000.
Television coverage has been largely responsible for the enormous attention, just as it has elevated the spectator popularity of women's golf and tennis.
Responding to the increased interest in soccer, the Star-Bulletin today inaugurates "Just For Kicks," a weekly column by staff writer Al Chase devoted to soccer from the local ranks to the pros.
The prospect of a professional women's soccer league has become realistic and perhaps inevitable, and the women athletes should be justly rewarded. "The women are carrying the promotional load and bringing the fans through the turnstiles," former tennis star John McEnroe wrote in a New York Times column last month. "They should be paid accordingly."
Will there be an American market for professional women's soccer? The attention paid to the Women's World Cup matches strongly suggests that there is. Such professional leagues have experienced limited but growing success in Germany, Italy, Brazil and Japan. A professional U.S. men's league has had mediocre fan appeal. However, with the help of television exposure, it may be time for professional women's soccer to step forward in this country.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
