Contest of wills goes to Helms
Weld ends fight for Mexican post

By NANCY MATHIS

Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON In blistering remarks aimed at a fellow
Republican, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld withdrew
Monday as the nominee for ambassador to Mexico and sent the
selection process back to square one.

Weld's decision ended a summerlong contest of wills between
the more liberal New England Republican and conservative
Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"This morning I asked President Clinton to withdraw my name
from the Senate so I can go back to New England, where no
one has to approach the government on bended knee to ask it
to do its duty," a ruddyfaced Weld told reporters during a
packed White House news conference.

Helms, who had deemed Weld unfit to be ambassador to Mexico,
refused to convene a hearing on Weld's nomination. Helms
underscored his opposition, and his power as chairman, by
calling a committee meeting Friday but refusing to recognize
Weld's Republican supporters for comment.

Weld, who resigned his governorship in July to fight for his
nomination, said he had "no regrets at all" for his
confrontational style and maintained he would "remain an
active and vocal member" in the Republican Party.

He said he would go to work in the private sector.

Mark Thiessen, a spokesman for Helms, said the senator
"bears no ill will to Governor Weld personally and wishes
him well in whatever he chooses to do." Thiessen said the
fight over the nomination could have been averted. "It was
an unfortunate situation that escalated unnecessarily," he
said.

Clinton, in a statement read by the White House press
secretary, expressed disappointment at Weld's decision.

"The American people have not been well served during this
process for several reasons," Clinton said in the statement.
He said the people lost the services of an "outstanding
public servant" in Weld, lost their right to judge his
qualifications for themselves and were denied a voice in the
process because no hearing was held.

"At a time when we have been making strides towards a
bipartisan foreign policy, the treatment that my nominee
received reflected the divisiveness that does not well serve
the American people," he said.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the president did
not have another nominee in mind. "It will be some time
before we do so. And in many senses our review process is
back at the starting point now," McCurry said.

One of those who was interviewed about the appointment
earlier this year was Houston Mayor Bob Lanier.

Clinton, a Democrat, reached out to Weld in a spirit of
bipartisanship, the White House said. But the internal
warfare the nomination provoked within the Republican ranks
did little to harm the administration and some White House
aides even viewed it with bemusement.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, RMiss., who called on
Clinton this weekend to withdraw Weld's nomination, said
Weld "made the right decision," and called on Clinton to
submit a nominee on "which the Senate can act immediately."

Weld said of Lott's opposition to his appointment, "I think
Trent was just carrying water for his chairman. I'm not
blaming him. I'm blaming the chairman (Helms)."

Weld's decision seemed almost inevitable since June when
Helms voiced his opposition to the nomination. "It's evident
that, for some reason, he was laying in wait for me," Weld
said of Helms. "I don't know whether it was holdup or
payback, I can't prove it because he's never said."

Helms, an immovable force in the Senate, contended Weld's
support of medical use of marijuana made him unfit. Besides
ideological differences, Weld and his wife also had slighted
Helms in recent years. Weld, who ran for the Senate in 1996,
hedged at endorsing Helms as Senate Foreign Relations
Committee chairman, and his wife gave a campaign donation to
Helms' Democratic opponent, Harvey Gantt.

Weld continued to say he enjoyed the support of the majority
of the committee members and senators who must confirm
ambassadorial appointments. And, he said he believed the
American public supported at least his call for a hearing
before the committee.

However, he believed escalating the fight to force the
Senate to consider his nomination eventually would have
endangered the Clinton White House's relationship with the
Republican Senate.

He suggested Helms had all but threatened freetrade
legislation and the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization if Weld continued to press his nomination.

The wealthy Bostonian retained his caustic posture even as
he withdrew his nomination, beginning his news conference by
telling reporters, in a mocking tone as though reading a
school essay, he wanted to talk about his summer vacation.

"I sure had a funny summer," he said. "In late April,
President Clinton ... asked me to be ambassador to Mexico.
And I said I would. Then in June, I saw this man on
television saying, `Governor Weld is not ambassadorial
quality. Governor Weld is unfit to be an ambassador.
Governor Weld is soft on drugs, and I won't permit the
United States Senate to have a hearing on this nomination.'
I asked who this man was, and I was told it was Senator
Jesse Helms.

"And, I met lots of people who are experts in the way that
government in Washington works, and they said, `We can't
just have a hearing. first you have to go on bended knee and
you have to kiss a lot of rings.' Well, my mother and father
taught me that I'm no better than anybody else, but also
that I'm no worse. So I said I wouldn't go on bended knee
and I wouldn't kiss anything," Weld said.

"And you know what I found out? In Washington, the rule is
all the senators don't have to advise and consent, even
though the Constitution says they do. And, in Washington,
you do have to go on bended knee, even if you only want the
government to do what the Constitution says," Weld said.
"Well, I sure learned a lot this summer. Washington sure is
a funny town."

Weld praised Clinton for "standing treetop tall in this
entire matter" by supporting his nomination. Weld also
dismissed as a "complete canard" some reports that Clinton,
at the behest of Sen. Edward Kennedy, chose him in order to
clear the way for Rep. Joe Kennedy to be elected governor.
Joe Kennedy, beset by family scandals, recently announced he
would not run for the state post.