WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state Wednesday as President Barack Obama moved to make his imprint on U.S. foreign policy, mobilizing a fresh team of veteran advisers and reaching out to world leaders.
The Senate voted 94-2, with Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina opposing.
Republicans and Democrats said her swift confirmation was necessary so Obama could begin tackling the major foreign-policy issues at hand, including two wars, increased violence in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.
“It is essential that we provide the president with the tools and resources he needs to effect change, and that starts with putting a national security team in place as soon as possible,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the Foreign Relations Committee chairman.
Obama’s presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, was among those who spoke in Clinton’s favor.
“This nation has come together in a way that it has not for some time,” said the Arizona Republican, on the Senate floor for the first time since the inauguration.
Voters “want us to work together and get to work,” McCain said.
According to a White House spokesman, Obama placed telephone calls Wednesday to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Clinton planned to report to the State Department today, where she was expected to address employees in the main lobby in the morning — a tradition of sorts for state secretaries on the first day on the job.
The former first lady received overwhelming support in Congress despite lingering concerns by some Republicans that the charitable fundraising overseas by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, could pose conflicts of interest.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed Susan Rice to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a post Obama has elevated to Cabinet level.
