Senate Panel Approves Caroline Kennedy For Envoy Post

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Caroline Kennedy moved a step closer toward becoming the United States' next ambassador to Japan.

By voice vote Monday, the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee endorsed President Barack Obama's choice, the former first daughter who has promised to carry forward John F. Kennedy's legacy with humility.

Caroline Kennedy, who lives on Manhattan's Upper East Side, helped propel Obama to the Democratic presidential nomination with her endorsement over former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New  York, the only time she's endorsed a presidential candidate other than her uncle Ted in 1980.

If confirmed, Kennedy, 55, would replace John Roos, a former Silicon Valley lawyer and top Obama campaign fundraiser. She still must be confirmed by the full Senate.

At her Sept. 19 confirmation hearing, Kennedy noted the significance of her nomination 50 years since her father's presidency, focusing on his tenure rather than his assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

"I'm conscious of my responsibility to uphold the ideals that he represented -- a deep commitment to public service, a more just America and a more peaceful world," she told the committee. "As a World War II veteran who served in the Pacific, he had hoped to be the first sitting president to make a state visit to Japan. If confirmed as ambassador, I would be humbled to carry forward his legacy in a small way."