The Issue: Sen. George Voinovich refusal to nominate Bolton

Their View: Bolton deserves to be confirmed to U.N.

In April last year, the nomination of John Bolton for U.N. Ambassador was blocked when Ohio Sen. George Voinovich, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, refused to send the nomination to the Senate for a vote. It was a time of extreme partisanship in Congress.

But no matter how trivial or biased or hearsay-based the accusations, our Senator, Voinovich, was unnerved by them. He chose to side with Democrats on the committee, saying he didn't “feel comfortable voting for Mr. Bolton.” President Bush, seeing the way the political winds were blowing and wishing to avoid further delay, bypassed the vote with a recess nomination.

Interestingly, Voinovich now is saying that he will support Bolton because situations with Iran, North Korea, Iraq and Israel/Lebanon require continuity in the United Nations.

It's too bad that Voinovich didn't trust his own party or president enough to back the nominee last year.

But better late than never. Voinovich's grudging praise aside, Bolton deserves to be confirmed.

- The (Findlay) Courier