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Source: Reuters -
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Senator Hillary Clinton was approved by a Senate panel on Thursday to become the next US secretary of state, despite misgivings about the charitable fund-raising of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 in favor, clearing a key hurdle to her appointment as the top US diplomat.
Clinton still has to be officially confirmed by the full Senate but this is expected to be a formality, which congressional sources said was expected take place soon after the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican who this week questioned Clinton about her husband's raising of foreign funds for his charity, was the sole negative vote.
Committee chairman Senator John Kerry said Clinton did an "outstanding job" in her testimony before the committee this week but noted some senators had expressed concerns about her husband's charitable foundation and the adequacy of an agreement devised to avoid conflicts of interest.
"I am confident Senator Clinton with give those her full consideration," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who himself had hoped to be selected as secretary of state and like Clinton once made an unsuccessful run for US president.
Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, also raised the matter at Thursday's hearing, although he said he would vote for Clinton's nomination.
"I continue to have the concerns that you (Kerry) expressed that this be dealt with in a way that goes further than it has at this point," said DeMint. "Nothing could be worse than to take the wonderful talent like Senator Clinton and have a perception of a conflict of interest that doesn't exist."
Clinton has promised a more "pragmatic" approach to US diplomacy, relying on what she said was "smart power" rather than what is regarded as a more ideological approach of the outgoing administration Bush administration.
She faces a barrage of challenges from tackling the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea to to quelling the violence in the Gaza Strip following Israel's invasion last month.
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