Washington, Feb 2: The US Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as the new US Secretary of State. He was approved with a majority vote wherein all three democratic and independent lawmakers joined in to vote for Rex.
The new Secretary of State is known to have a pro Russian stance given his successful business ties with Moscow and a close personal relation with Putin. This was one of the primary reasons for the delay in his appointment by the senate.
Senator Marco Rubio, who had a rather curt and testy excahnge with Tillerson during the confirmation hearings reiterated that this was the top job and the most important diplomat to be appointed by the President for running foreign affairs.
"There is so much uncertainty and debate about our role in the world these days," he said. "A lot of our allies have questions. Our adversaries are obviously watching very closely." At the confirmation hearing, Tillerson called Russia a "danger" to the United States and said he favoured maintaining US sanctions against Moscow.
"Russia today poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests," said Tillerson. "Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia." He also recommended a "full review" of the nuclear deal with Iran, but he did not call for an outright rejection of the accord.
On the South China Sea issue, Tillerson told the hearing that China should stop island building in the South China Sea and be denied access to these islands, which China regards as an integral part of its territory.
Tillerson was widely known for opposing sanctions against Russia in his ExxonMobil corporate life. But he refused to label Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal as he had known him since the 1990s and was awarded Order of Friendship in 2013 by Putin.
