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Biden, senators plan Southwest Asia trip

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and four four key senators will make a fact-finding trip to Southwest Asia next week.

Traveling with Biden will be Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who succeeds Biden as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close adviser to defeated Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona; Rep. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Graham and McCain; and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a member of the armed services and homeland security committees.

Kerry, who announced the trip, said details about exactly where the bipartisan group will go won’t be announced in advance for security reasons. The trip is expected to take about a week.

Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith said the trip will not interfere with confirmation hearings for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be the next secretary of state. Smith said confirmation hearings have not yet been scheduled.

Kerry, however, is just back from meeting with foreign leaders in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Georgia.