{"id":1588,"date":"2014-02-07T05:40:04","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T13:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/?p=1588"},"modified":"2014-02-07T05:48:32","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T13:48:32","slug":"senate-easily-approves-obamas-pick-of-senate-veteran-baucus-as-next-ambassador-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/02\/07\/senate-easily-approves-obamas-pick-of-senate-veteran-baucus-as-next-ambassador-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate easily approves Obama\u2019s pick of Senate veteran Baucus as next ambassador to China"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo from whitehousemuseum.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON\u2014The Senate easily confirmed longtime Sen. Max Baucus on Thursday to become ambassador to China, handing the job to a lawmaker well-versed in U.S. trade policy but with little expertise about military and other issues that have raised tensions with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Senators gave final approval to the nomination of the moderate Baucus, D-Mont., by 96-0. Trim and youthful looking for his 72 years, Baucus accepted colleagues\u2019 congratulations before and during the roll call and voted \u201cpresent\u201d for his own nomination.<\/p>\n

Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus has worked with Republicans during his 35 years in the Senate on issues ranging from taxes to health care reform\u2014an independent streak that has vexed Democratic colleagues.<\/p>\n

Baucus supported GOP President George W. Bush\u2019s sweeping 2001 tax cuts and his 2003 creation of Medicare prescription drug benefits, despite opposition by most Democrats.<\/p>\n

He also helped write President Barack Obama\u2019s 2010 health care overhaul. Congress approved that measure solely with Democratic votes after Baucus spent months trying to craft a bipartisan version with Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to stand up for it, because it is helping millions of Americans,\u201d Baucus said in farewell remarks on the Senate floor after Thursday\u2019s vote, defending a law that Republicans are making a top issue this election year.<\/p>\n

Most recently, he\u2019d been working with Republicans to craft bills revamping the income tax system and streamlining congressional votes on trade treaties Obama is seeking with Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis passion is well-known to all of us, his decades of experience here in Congress. He\u2019s an excellent choice that President Obama made to represent America\u2019s interests in China,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.<\/p>\n

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a long-time Finance panel colleague, lauded the Montanan for \u201chis willingness to put partisan differences aside for the greater good of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2001, Baucus championed China\u2019s inclusion in the World Trade Organization, which has helped Beijing conduct business with other countries. He has sponsored legislation\u2014not enacted\u2014punishing China for undervaluing its currency and has criticized Beijing for blocking U.S. imports of beef, a big business in his rural state.<\/p>\n

Baucus had already announced he would not seek re-election this fall when Obama tapped him last December for the ambassadorship.<\/p>\n

His early departure from the Senate\u2014spokesman Sean Neary said Baucus planned to formally resign late Thursday\u2014could turn what looked like a likely GOP Senate seat pickup into a more competitive race.<\/p>\n

Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock planned a Friday news conference at which he was expected to name a temporary replacement for Baucus, perhaps Democratic Lt. Gov. John Walsh. That could let the appointee build a Senate record and gain visibility to defend the seat against expected GOP candidate Rep. Steve Daines.<\/p>\n

Baucus\u2019 confirmation comes as China has emerged as a leading global economic and military power, at times causing strains between Beijing and Washington and its allies in the region.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s economy is second in size only to that of the United States. The U.S. trade deficit with China hit $318 billion last year, far larger than it is with any other country, and the $1.3 trillion in Treasury securities China owns make it the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt.<\/p>\n

Ties have also frayed as the U.S. has accused China of cybertheft of American intellectual property and of holding down the value of its currency to give a price advantage to its companies trading overseas.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials have clashed with China over its human rights record, accusing it of mistreating political dissidents and many minority groups. On Thursday, Obama said at the annual National Prayer Breakfast that he has told leaders in Beijing that \u201crealizing China\u2019s potential rests on upholding universal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beijing has been modernizing its military forces and engaging in territorial disputes in the seas off East Asia with Japan, South Korea and the\u00a0Philippines.<\/p>\n

Baucus will replace Gary Locke, the former Commerce secretary and first Chinese-American to serve as U.S. ambassador to China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON\u2014The Senate easily confirmed longtime Sen. Max Baucus on Thursday to become ambassador to China, handing the job to a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":1602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-w","mauthors-alan-fram","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}