By Bryan Bender, Boston Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- More than three decades after he first appeared before the
panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator
John F. Kerry is widely expected to be named the new chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that will give him
enormous influence over international relations.

The pending announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, which
congressional aides said could come as early as today, would elevate
Kerry to the top of the foreign policy establishment and give him a
major role in shaping President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy
priorities.

Kerry, 64, who was elected to a fifth term in the US Senate from
Massachusetts earlier this month, will be officially handed the gavel
when the new congressional session convenes in January, according to
multiple Capitol Hill sources. He will replace the outgoing chairman,
Vice President-elect Joe Biden.


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Delicious.