US foreign policy more than troops and drones: John Kerry

American foreign policy is more than just drones and troops, Senator John Kerry pledged today, as he outlined to US lawmakers his priorities if they back him as the next secretary of state.

"American foreign policy is not defined by drones and deployments alone," he told the Senate Foreign Relations committee, sitting across from the committee which he has been a member of for 29 years, and which he has also chaired.

"American foreign policy is also defined by food security and energy security, humanitarian assistance, the fight against disease and the push for development, as much as it is by any single counter terrorism initiative."

Kerry has been tapped by President Barack Obama to take over from Hillary Clinton, who is leaving office after a four-year term.

Clinton, along with veteran Senator John McCain, stepped up to introduce Kerry and recommend him as the next US top diplomat. It is a post he has long coveted, and he is expected to sail through his hearing.

Addressing a bitterly divided Congress, he called for American leadership, and "fresh thinking" saying he wanted to work together with Democrats and Republicans to confront together challenges facing them across the world.

Kerry has built an impressive resume as an elder statesman in the US Senate, but failed in 2004 in his bid to win the White House.

The decorated Vietnam veteran turned anti-war activist failed to unseat George W. Bush after running a lacklustre campaign in which he was bombarded by dubious ads attacking

his military service.

But, as a top senator specialising in foreign affairs, Kerry has sat down with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, soothed nerves in Pakistan and visited the Gaza Strip, winning

the respect of fellow Democrats and Republicans alike.

In nominating him, Obama praised Kerry's record on foreign affairs.

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