Senate Panel Likely To Approve Foley

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will begin debating Tom Foley’s nomination for U.S. ambassador to Japan on Wednesday.

President Clinton picked the former speaker of the House for the job late last month. The Spokane Democrat, who represented Eastern Washington in Congress for 30 years, is expected to sail through the hearing process.

One official, a Democrat, said it could be the “Jiffy-Lube” of confirmation hearings.

Washington state business leaders hailed the nomination, saying Foley is the perfect candidate for a job making him a well-placed advocate for the state’s interests with its largest trading partner. Last year, the state’s exports to Japan totaled more than $9 billion.

If the committee approves Foley’s nomination, it would go to the full Senate for a vote.

Foley, 68, has worked with Japanese prime ministers and Cabinet officials for decades and travels to Japan regularly.

After losing his bid for re-election in 1994, Foley became a partner in Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, a Washington, D.C., law firm and lobbying group.