WASHINGTON — House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, heads to the U.S. Senate this morning to make the case for his nomination as U.S. ambassador to Canada.

U.S. Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, both Republicans of South Carolina, will introduce Wilkins to a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.

Wilkins, 58, led the Bush-Cheney S.C. campaigns in 2000 and 2004. President Bush nominated him in April.

He is considered a noncontroversial choice for the plum diplomatic post — the United States’ key liaison with its top trading partner.

Wilkins spent part of Tuesday at the State Department, collecting reading materials on Canada and talking to officers on the Canada desk.

“I’m trying to learn as much as I can,” he said.

At the same hearing, at least three other ambassadorial nominees also will begin the process.

Subcommittee chairman Norm Coleman, R-Minn., will lead off the questioning, which is expected to focus on Wilkins’ S.C. record and his approach to U.S.-Canadian relations.

After the hearing, Wilkins’ nomination will come before a business meeting of the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

If a majority of the committee sends his nomination to the Senate floor, it would take a majority of the full Senate to approve him as ambassador.

The process is expected to take no more than a few weeks.

Wilkins would succeed Paul Cellucci, the former governor of Massachusetts.

Reach Markoe at (202) 383-6023 or lmarkoe@krwashington.com.