New York, Jan. 23: New York Governor David Paterson is expected to name Representative. Kirsten Gillibrand, an upstate Democrat, to replace Hillary Clinton in the U. S. Senate, a Democratic official with knowledge of the governor''s decision told FOX News on Thursday night.

Gillibrand, elected in 2006, represents the state''s 20th congressional district in the U. S. House of Representatives. She is the first Democrat to represent the district since
1978 -- and the first female representative of the district.

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised a renewed focus on diplomacy and development aid as tools of US foreign policy during a welcoming ceremony Thursday at the State Department.

"This is going to be a great adventure," she told the crowd of civil service staff that cheered wildly in the lobby of the building, one day after she was confirmed by the US Senate and sworn in as the country's top diplomat.

Clinton said President Barack Obama has set the new tone and promised a new spirit of cooperation in his inaugural speech on Tuesday.

Washington  - The US Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, clearing the way for her to take the reins of US foreign policy as President Barack Obama moves quickly to address a host of international challenges.

Following the Senate's 94-2 vote, Clinton will now begin dealing with the pressing issues of the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She's due to arrive at the State Department Thursday morning, a spokesperson said.

Washington - A Senate committee voted Thursday to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, sending her nomination to the full chamber for final approval.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 to make Clinton the next top US diplomat. The vote in the full Senate could come before president-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office on Tuesday.

Obama tapped his formal rival for the Democratic presidential nomination to head foreign policy, bringing in a face familiar to the rest of the world and someone who has built strong foreign policy credentials during her time in the Senate.

Washington, Jan. 15 : Soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bid an emotional farewell to her Senate colleagues Wednesday night, saying that serving in the Senate "has been the greatest experience of my life" and that leaving them was "like leaving family."

Clinton, whose eyes welled up as she worked the elegant LBJ room in the Capitol, hugged and kissed colleagues, posed for pictures and thanked them one by one as she reminded them she would be "just around the corner," reports Politico.