Jon S. Corzine: “I do that, acknowledging, however, there are legitimate questions that can be raised about previous concerns in his…”

“I do that, acknowledging, however, there are legitimate questions that can be raised about previous concerns in his tenure as an ambassador in Honduras, and human rights violations which are so important in the context of some of the things that are of great concern to us today. But more troubling to me is the context in which this confirmation is actually being considered. The reality is, once again we are doing something on the fly. We are rushing to confirm an ambassador to maybe the most important choice and role we have. In and of itself, it is indicative of the crisis we have in Iraq--frankly, the mess Ambassador Negroponte will be walking into. If the administration--I am very troubled about this--sticks with an arbitrary, artificial June 30 deadline, Ambassador Negroponte's job will begin in less than 2 weeks with little or no definition about what he will be doing. There are no secure or thoughtful political or security plans in place.”