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Bush Suggests Bolton Documents Will Be Withheld
U.S. President George Bush suggested yesterday that he would not release documents Democratic senators have demanded as a condition of allowing a vote on embattled U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton, the New York Times reported (see GSN, May 27). “Now in terms of the requests for the documents, I view that as just another stall tactic, another way to delay, another way not to allow Bolton to get an up or down vote,” the president said. Democrats, who have delayed the vote on Bolton until the Senate reconvenes next week, said the president must turn over the requested documents if a vote is to take place. “Mr. Bolton's fate lies with the president,” said Jim Manley, the spokesman for Democratic leader Senator Harry Reid (Nev.). “If he agrees to turn over the requested information about his nominee, then Mr. Bolton will get his up or down vote. The Senate is entitled to the information. It’s really that simple” (Richard Stevenson, New York Times, June 1). The Times also reported that the documents requested by Democrats contain names of U.S. companies mentioned in intelligence reports on China and other countries under export restrictions. It was formerly believed that the White House was only withholding the names of individuals. The names of the individuals and companies were requested by Bolton in his capacity as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. The Bush administration has allowed the ranking member of both parties on the Senate intelligence committee access to the documents in question. However, the names of the individuals and companies were not included in the reports. Administration officials familiar with the documents declined to name specific countries mentioned other than China, but said that Bolton was assigned to oversee efforts to prevent countries such as Libya and Syria from obtaining unconventional weapons (Douglas Jehl, New York Times, June 1).
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