Rice hearing to lay out US foreign policy

There is little doubt that Rice, for four years President Bush's national security adviser and now the first African-American woman nominated to be secretary of state, will be confirmed. This is expected as soon as Wednesday.

But she must first answer questions from senators on topics ranging from her role in shaping America's response to al-Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the Iraq war and its chaotic aftermath, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and the US response to the Asian tsunami, Senate sources say.

Although Rice, 50, has spent years in government -- including as an adviser to Bush's father -- this will be her first Senate confirmation, a ritual that could be grueling.

As secretary of state, Rice would be fourth in line to succeed Bush and "the committee will do due diligence no matter how positively inclined they are about her," one senior Democratic Senate aide said.

Rice last year testified publicly before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. Generally, national security advisers provide counsel privately to the president.

"There's a pent-up curiosity about her, a lot of questions about how she thinks about the world," the Democratic aide said.