1.   Ambassadorial appointments require Senate confirmation.

2.   As Helms has blocked the Weld nomination, he has sent other key ambassadorial appointments hurtling through his committee.

3.   Bush chose frequent flier John Sununu, tried but failed to get the embarrassing John Tower for his Cabinet and committed a series of questionable ambassadorial appointments.

4.   He asked if she expected something from the president or vice president after her tenure concludes at the Justice Department, such as an ambassadorial appointment.

5.   Helms, the key gatekeeper for all ambassadorial appointments, had hinted previously at his opposition to Weldleft his reasons vague on Tuesday.

6.   His nomination, the first ambassadorial appointment by Bush, is expected to win easy confirmation from the US Senate.

7.   Lantos questioned Reno on whether her judgment on the independent counsel might be clouded by ambitions for a future ambassadorial appointment, or some other high office.

8.   Like her father, she was on the administrative track in the State Department, a road that seldom leads to an ambassadorial appointment.

9.   Opposition from the North Carolina conservative, the key Senate gatekeeper for all ambassadorial appointments, can stall a nomination.

10.   Rewarding political donors with choice ambassadorial appointments is a time-honored tradition in Washington.