RICE NOMINATION HEADS TO SENATE FLOOR FOR FINAL VOTE The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-2 Wednesday to approve Condoleezza Rice's nomination as secretary of state, clearing the way for a full Senate vote expected by Thursday. Jan. 18, 2005: Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The committee passage came after two days of tough questioning on the administration's handling of the Iraq war. At Wednesday's hearing, after Democrats pressed her on whether the reasons for going to war were misleading, Rice acknowledged that "there were some bad decisions" by the administration on Iraq....