A ROSE FOR HILLARY

Secretary Clinton to Travel to Germany and Bulgaria

2012-01-28T16:38:00.000-05:00

When she attended the inauguration of Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff a year ago New Year's Day, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria invited both Rouseff and HRC to visit in October of last year. Perhaps Rouseff went, but HRC did not. I believe this will be her first trip there as SOS.

: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle arrive for a news conference at the State Department in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secretary Clinton to Travel to Germany and Bulgaria

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 27, 2012

On February 3-5, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Germany and Bulgaria. In Munich, Germany, Secretary Clinton will participate in the 48th Munich Security Conference. This annual event brings together global leaders to discuss common security challenges. In her address to the Conference, the Secretary will reaffirm the fundamental importance of the transatlantic relationship and Europe’s role as an essential partner in addressing global security challenges.
While in Munich the Secretary will also hold bilateral meetings with her European and other counterparts.
The Secretary will travel to Sofia, Bulgaria, February 5, to meet with senior Bulgarian officials and discuss a range of issues, including democratic transitions in the Middle East, our ongoing support for Afghanistan, energy security and our bilateral cooperation in international law enforcement.

Secretary Clinton Meets with Members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

2012-01-27T20:17:00.000-05:00

There are almost no pictures available from the past two days. I would love to see pics from yesterday's Town Hall, but no luck. Anyway This was an important event, pics or no pics.

Secretary Clinton Meets with Members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 27, 2012

Today, Secretary of State Clinton met with Professor Dinah Shelton, President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the members of the Commission.
This is an historic moment for the Commission, which welcomes three newly elected women Commissioners to serve on the hemispheric human rights body. A principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commission advances the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the Americas. It impacts thousands of lives in the hemisphere through the issuance of decisions and recommendations to OAS member states to improve the human rights conditions in their countries.
Secretary Clinton stressed the United States’ support for the work of the Commission and its Rapporteurs. The visit also provided occasion for the announcement of an increase in the United States’ financial support for the Commission.
The Commission plays a unique role and is a model for other regions. It investigates individual petitions that allege violations of human rights and publishes special reports on individual countries. It also promotes human rights through the work of its Rapporteurs such as the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. The Commission’s work has helped to protect and in many cases saved the lives of those who work to advance human rights and advocate for the needs of vulnerable populations.
The defense and promotion of human rights is a foundation of the OAS, and the United States is committed to continuing support of the Commission’s work and its independence. Preserving the IACHR’s autonomy from political interference is a pillar of our human rights policy in the region.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T10:52:00.001-05:00

Have a lovely, restful weekend, Mme. Secretary. You were dynamite yesterday at the Town Hall. We look forward to the Town Hall at USAID, and hope the QDDR you established remains institutionalized as part of your stupendous legacy at the State Department.

Public Schedule for January 27, 2012
Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 27, 2012
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
10:00 a.m.Secretary Clinton meets with President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Dinah Shelton and commissioners.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
3:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

Video: Secretary Clinton's QDDR Town Hall at the State Department

2012-01-26T14:19:00.000-05:00

Town Hall Meeting on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review

Townhall
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Patrick F. Kennedy
Under Secretary for Management
Dean Acheson Auditorium
Washington, DC
January 26, 2012

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Secretary of State’s Town Hall meeting. Just one brief technical reminder. This session is being broadcast not only on the State Department’s internal closed circuit system, BNET, but also is being broadcast by a number of networks, so please always be diplomatic – (laughter) – in your questions and in your performance. And with that, briefly, it gives me great personal and professional pleasure to introduce the Secretary of State, the honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton.Madam Secretary. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you very much, Pat, and I am delighted to be with all of you again this morning. On the way down the hall I saw the overflow crowd, so I want to greet them. They’re clustered around some of the TV screens out there. It’s wonderful to have this opportunity so soon in the new year to speak with you face-to-face, to have a chance to bring you up to date and also answer questions. It also an opportunity to understand the full seating capacity of the Dean Acheson Auditorium – (laughter) – and I’m afraid test the fire marshal’s patience.
Many more people than even the very large crowd gathered here and out in the hall have contributed to the work that we are doing together. There is so much to talk about. I wish I could be here for days, and we could bring in shifts of people, but there’s much work to be done of which you are essential partners. I do want to thank Kerry O’Conner and Molly Moran for their great work running the Sounding Board. (Applause.) And they’re giving everyone here in the State Department a chance to ask questions.
I’m also looking forward to going over to USAID, and I see Deputy Administrator Don Steinberg. I know Raj Shah is out of town, or we would have tried to piggyback them on the same day, Don, but we’re going to get a date very soon. Because it is appropriate for us to have this chance to kind of catch up and look forward.
And it is also so fitting that we would be meeting here in an auditorium named for Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who cautioned us – and I quote – “always remember that the future comes one day at a time.” And despite the daunting challenges and the extraordinary opportunities that we confront, it is that one day at a time, one step in front of the next that really gets us where we’re heading.
In that spirit, I want to update you on the implementation of the first QDDR, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, which we launched in this room just over a year ago. Our goals remain the same: to strengthen State and USAID as we continue to strive to work better, faster, and smarter in the 21st century. During his State of the Union address this week, President Obama spoke about the essential role that America still plays in spreading peace and prosperity around the world. Well, that was music to my ears, and I hope also to yours.
The State Department and USAID are critical to maintaining and extending American leadership, and we will be, in the future, called upon to do more, in more places, more frequently, and most likely with fewer resources. The goals of the QDDR, therefore, are even more imperative in times of tight budget constraints. We must show – it’s up to us to show the American people and their representatives in Congress that every dollar given to the State Department and USAID is a wise and effective investment in advancing the values, the interests, and the security of the United States of America.
Now, over – yes, I agree with that. (Applause.) (Laughter.)
Over the past year, I have been so gratified to see how individual bureaus, missions, and posts have applied the underlying principles of the QDDR. I’m seeing more interagency cooperation, people breaking down work silos, tapping institutional capacity wherever it exists. And we’re also making great progress on the four main lines of activity that we identified in the QDDR process: adapting our diplomacy to new threats and opportunities; transforming our development to deliver results; strengthening our capacity to prevent and respond to conflict and crisis; and working smarter by improving our approaches to planning, procurement, and personnel.
And let me just briefly share with you some of the progress we’ve made in each of these areas. First, adapting our diplomacy for the 21^st century. We are empowering our chiefs of mission, our ambassadors, as interagency CEOs and making sure to include their perspective whenever a decision touches their country and their responsibilities within it. Ambassadors now regularly participate in high-level interagency policy making discussions with Washington via video conference. And they help formally evaluate employees from other agencies as part of our whole of government approach.
We also created a home for all of our experts on one of the defining challenges of our time: energy. For too long, energy was the second, third, or forth priority for several different offices. Now, the new Bureau of Energy Resources is our single point of contact on all energy issues. ENR is already working in close coordination with the Department of Energy to keep energy markets stable as we implement sanctions on Iran and to lead our global strategy with the UN to achieve sustainable energy for all. And ENR taps skill sets from across the government – from Treasury, Commerce, Interior, among others – to run the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative, which is helping countries use their own energy resources transparently to actually benefit their own citizens. (Applause.)
We also reconceived the role of the under secretary for global affairs, now known as the under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights. We wanted to focus on those areas, civilian security and the other essential elements of building safe, fair, and just societies. We erased the organizational distinctions between what was once viewed as hard power and soft power, the kind of security concerns with a hard edge, in order to look more comprehensively and in depth at an integrated and ultimately more effective approach.
Now, counterterrorism and police training programs work alongside those that defend human rights, promote opportunities for young people, combat trafficking-in-persons. In other words, we are bringing a 360-degree approach to people protection that addresses both the root causes of insecurity and its immediate threats. Working closely with regional bureaus, the new J family works to make sure a government’s first obligation is to its own people; that government institutions, including courts, police forces, and others that affect everyday life are rooted in the rule of law and respect for human rights; that refugees are protected from persecution; that the voice of young people is heard and respected; and individuals are protected from the excesses of government.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, a country emerging from decades of conflict, the J family is working closely with the Africa Bureau to create the environment for more stability and security, working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, break the link between conflict minerals and violence, support democratic institutions that can promote lasting peace, and achieve accountability for the atrocities that have been committed against innocents.
We have also elevated the Counterterrorism Office to a full bureau that will help us build an international counterterrorism network that is as nimble and adaptive as our adversaries. The CT Bureau is undermining extremists’ attempts to find new recruits, and shrinking the space available to al-Qaida and its affiliates by increasing the capacity of our partners to combat terrorism on their own.
Now, we also launched a new center – to deal with countering violent extremism – within the State Department, and I attended the inaugural meeting just yesterday and saw the interagency in full splendor as I sat between Danny Benjamin and Ann Stock and Ambassador Richard LeBaron, and across from representatives from DOD, CIA, DNI, you name it. Because it makes no sense for us to be trying to combat violent extremism, have expertise in the CIA, expertise in DOD, expertise across our government that is siloed in ways we don’t even know what each other is doing. So we’re trying to break down those bureaucratic barriers.
We’ve also launched – (applause) – as an American initiative, along with our partners around the world, the Global Counterterrorism Forum to strengthen civilian-led counterterrorism efforts and further bridge the divide between security and development. And in addition, we’ve taken many other steps, one in particular – establishing a coordinator for cyber issues that is going to be increasingly important to us in order to respond quickly to 21^st century threats.
Second, along with the great leadership of Dr. Raj Shah, we are transforming our approach to development. We’ve made a long-term commitment to rebuilding USAID as the world’s premier development agency. Under the USAID forward reform agenda, we’ve strengthened AID’s capacity to elevate development as a pillar of civilian power. We’ve built up the Policy, Planning, and Learning Bureau, and I especially liked that initiative, because we need to be constantly a learning organism – what can we do better, what can we learn from others. It is now a thought leader on development; adopting an outstanding system for monitoring and evaluating our work around the world; reinvigorating our investments in science, technology and innovation; and stepping up our focus on democracy, human rights, and governance.
We’re also consolidating our administrative services when it makes sense from a business and operations perspective. It no longer makes sense in a world of constrained resources in countries to have separate warehouses for State Department and AID. We need efficiencies. We need economies of scale. And we’re working through all of that. Pat Kennedy and his great M team is really helping. And as promised, we launched a foreign assistance dashboard at www.foreignassistance.gov. That lets anyone in the world with an internet connection to see where we are investing and how much, and I will be discussing this in greater details at the USAID town hall. (Applause.) It’s also nice to be able to refer our own inquiries that still people think we spend 20 percent of the U.S. Government’s budget on development to tell them to go to the foreignassistance.gov and actually get a little evidence-based reality going here. (Laughter.)
Third, because we recognize that it’s more important than ever to address the problems of fragile states, we are strengthening our capacity to prevent and respond to crisis. We rolled out our new Conflict and Stabilization Operations Bureau. And in the past year, CSO has deployed more than 175 Civilian Response Corps members to hotspots in more than 30 countries around the world. They come from nine different agencies and bureaus, including USAID, which has expanded its own work in this area. They’re working everywhere from Afghanistan to South Sudan to Timor-Leste, often in some of the most remote and least governed places on earth. They can be found camped alongside special forces, sleeping under mosquito nets in campsites hacked out of the jungle by machete, eating MREs, hitching rides in the back of pickups to meet with local leaders – not the common image of a diplomat. But they are among the hundreds of State and USAID employees practicing a tradecraft that now lives at the intersection of diplomacy, development, and security.
And finally – (applause) – we are doing everything we can to work smarter by improving our approaches to planning, procurement, and personnel. For example, we have overhauled the way State and USAID go about setting goals and developing long-term plans. For the first time, strategic planning and resource planning are separate and sequential processes. Now as obvious as it may seem to all of us here today, we now set our goals before we determine funding rather than doing everything all at once, and we’re simplifying those processes to relieve unnecessary burdens.
In the press of the budget and the incredible pressure that comes on everyone every year, and especially last year and this year, it seemed to make sense in the past that we just tried to do everything at once – how much could we get, what could we do it for. What we have found in our engagement with OMB and in our engagement with the Hill, that if we’ve done our planning first and we have the rationales behind what we are asking for, we will be more successful. We will make the case to both the OMB budgeteers and the appropriations committees on the Hill. It helps us focus our resources on highest priorities.
And we’re also investing in our most important asset, namely all of you and your colleagues. We set up new training through FSI to better prepare our staff for the demands of 21st century diplomacy. We’ve created multiple new courses designed to emphasize priorities identified in the QDDR, including training in development assistance, multilateral diplomacy, and social media best practices. We want to make sure every person at State and USAID has the skills and resources necessary to do your job.
We also want to tap all the talent and expertise of our Civil Service. (Applause.) Last year, we developed a department-wide survey of civil servants and, by popular demand, launched a pilot program for civil servants to deploy overseas. Posts will obviously benefit from having skilled civil servants fill out their team, and the participants will gain greater experience about life at posts and a new set of responsibilities. If the program proves successful, we will look to expand it to more people and more posts.
Now, these are just a handful of the steps we have taken in the last year. There are many, many more stories of the QDDR in action. We’ve been tracking them on the website qddr.state.gov. I encourage each of you to go there to check up on the progress we’ve made, to share your ideas about how to make this first-ever QDDR real in your office.
And as we look ahead at the coming year, we need to keep up this momentum. Now, I know it isn’t easy. There is just a lot to do every single day. It’s hard to be inventing a new airplane when you’re up in the air. But we are really together demonstrating how it’s done. Large bureaucracies, like large organizations anywhere, can often resist change because it’s new, it disrupts the orderly flow of the routines that have been already established, and it might be tempting to just sit and wait in the hope that a change will pass you by. But instead, so many of you have embraced the QDDR and the ideas behind it, and I want to thank each and every one of you who have been involved in the process. If you’re still working to implement the guidance, I encourage you to keep pushing forward.
Now, many of the projects we’ve already started will need follow-up actions in the coming months. So we will also be defining the next set of projects to take on. And I really invite all of you – we really welcome your ideas about how to bring these changes into reality, because implementing the QDDR should not be an extra task on top of your real day job; it should be part of that job, and it should provide transformative thinking and tools to help you work better. And aside from the big institutional changes we’re making, I want the QDDR to do something else – encourage all employees at every level to really think hard to kind of dream big about what more we can do on behalf of our country.
For more than half a century, the world has benefited from exceptional American leadership, and an international system that was designed and implemented by talented and dedicated employees here at State and USAID. The sources of America’s power are enduring and durable – our values, our global vision, our productivity, our ingenuity, our incredible demographic diversity – but none of these advantages is a birthright. Every generation of Americans has to reestablish their legitimacy and credibility and has to re-imagine how America will be going forward. So let’s nurture those values, let’s keep making the tough choices, and let’s be sure we are part of securing American leadership well into this century.
Now I will be happy to take your questions. There are two microphones already set up in the audience. We’ve received a lot of interesting questions through the Sounding Board. We’re not going to have time to answer all of them, so I’ll take a few online questions submitted from overseas posts today. I understand that we will take a few from the Sounding Board moderator, who’s merged a few of the questions, apparently, so I could respond more directly to all of you. And I promise that all the thoughtful questions that you took the time to ask, which I don’t get to right now, will be answered either on the Sounding Board or the QDDR site.
So with that, Pat, we should begin. (Applause.)
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being here. My name is Kathleen Corey, and I work at FSI. Many of us are very involved in working on QDDR-related projects, and we’re very excited about the document and want it to stay. So my question is: What is the Department doing to institutionalize the QDDR so that regardless of who is Secretary of State or regardless of which administration is in power, that the QDDR will remain a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first of all, thank you for your work at FSI and for your work on implementing the QDDR. We are hoping that it will prove itself so that no matter who comes next, not only in position, but in all of the positions of leadership throughout State and AID, will see it as the tool that it is. The Defense Department has been doing this for years, and it has really advantaged them.
That’s how I first thought of it, because I served on the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, and every four years, the Defense Department would come up with this really slick, well manufactured brochure and filled with pages and PowerPoints – you know how they are so good at that. (Laughter.) And it’s just – I mean, it just was daunting to see, because it just laid out, well, here’s what we want, and here’s how we’re going to get it. And we had nothing like that from State or AID. In fact, if you ask Jack Lew, who has gone from D here to OMB, now will become Chief of Staff for President Obama, he said it was always so easy because State would come in with their priorities, AID would come in with different priorities, you could set one against the other, and so the end result was that we got less than we should have gotten.
So I don’t like that as an operating principle. So we decided to launch the first QDDR. We are expecting it to be legislated, because I think that the Congress – our authorizing committees and appropriating subcommittees – found it really useful, because they used to come into meetings and all the DOD appropriators would have their stacks of stuff from DOD, and our guys would have a little piece of paper with somebody called me and told me I needed to do this. So – (laughter) – we think it, on the merits, should be continued, and if it’s legislated, it will be continued. So that’s how we see it.
Yes.
UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: (Inaudible) question from the field with the Sounding Board, please.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Madam Secretary. The first question from the Sounding Board comes from Michelle Nichols in Kabul. She wants to know: What will the footprint of the Department be in Afghanistan as we progress through transition?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, that’s a very good question. And just about 10 days or so ago, I called our team in Afghanistan, had a conference call with many, many of the really extraordinary people serving there – not just from State and AID, but from our whole government – and we are going through that process now to evaluate as the transition continues in Afghanistan and the military footprint draws down and transitioning areas are transferred to Afghan lead. Our civilian mission will have to shift its focus from stabilization and support to the military to long-term development and building Afghan capacity.
We have over 450 civilians right now embedded in nearly 80 locations with the military, primarily U.S., but also NATO-ISAF forces. We will be gradually consolidating – our present thinking is – into four enduring State-led locations. And our staffing will be drawn down as the military draws down. We will have to be really thoughtful about how we reconfigure our mission in Kabul and around the country. That process is just beginning.
So Michelle, I would welcome your insight and input as well as those of others serving with you. Ambassador Ryan Crocker runs a great mission in Kabul, so he is and his team is very much focused on this. But it is a work in progress, because we don’t know all the details about exactly how the transition to Afghan-led security will occur. But we’re starting that work right now.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, I’m on the board of Executive Women at State. Fewer women are applying for senior positions in the Department and women at every level are having difficulty with maternity, childcare, and eldercare issues, and some are resigning. Workplace flexibility options are inconsistent from office to office. How can Executive Women at State and other concerned affinity groups work with you to help address these problems before you leave? Thank you. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, this is matter of great concern to me, because obviously balancing family and work responsibilities is challenging, and the challenge falls disproportionately on women in the workplace. And it’s no longer just a question of one’s children. It’s also one’s aging relatives who are often part of the care giving responsibilities that are assumed. And I really want to do more on this this year.
I think we’ve got a variety of policies in place that are trying to make the Department a more family-friendly work environment. I know some of you have raised on the Sounding Board and through your chains, here, the question about more telework. Pat and I have talked about this. We have to determine which positions are eligible and which aren’t. A lot of the classified and confidential work can’t be outsourced, so to speak, to telework. So we are looking at that, we will continue to look at it, and we will try to support as much expansion of it as is possible. But I don't want to overpromise, because there are inherent challenges.
We also have a policy that provides for alternative work schedules. We support job-sharing when it has been worked out with the office and the person willing to share the job with you. We have two daycare facilities, we’re about to have a third, one at FSI, one at SA-1, and then one at a new building that is being revamped and ready for CA. We need more capacity. Everybody knows that, and we’re exploring everything we can do. I also have been made aware of the desire for more lactation rooms. I think we’ve added numbers to that, and we are in the process of trying to develop a policy to increase the numbers.
And I think there is a lot that is practical and, again, maybe apparently small steps but which could make a big difference in an individual’s ability to balance family and work. So I hope that you will keep really stretching the envelope on this. Obviously on our – for our LGBT community, we’ve really broken through and done a lot in terms of improving family-related policies. So we’re very sensitive to this. We’ll try to do as much as we can within the confines of the kind of specific constraints that we have to work with.
So keep the ideas coming and keep encouraging talented women to move up the ranks. We don’t want there to be any stagnation in numbers. There should be no glass ceiling or any other kind of ceiling that prevents women from going forward in so far as we can make the work environment successful for you. So we’ll keep working on that. (Applause.)
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name is Doris McBryde. I am in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. As you know, even though there are some agencies that are growing, we ourselves are not the only agency that’s facing difficulty in terms of resources. You mentioned earlier, for example, the Department of Energy as well. You didn’t mention the Department of Commerce are among the agencies that we work with closely that are having resource issues. And I’m wondering what your thoughts are about that and how that affects their ability to engage in diplomacy with us overseas.
SECRETARY CLINTON: That is a really good question, because we have worked hard to make the case for State and AID resources. And I’m knocking on wood, but we’ve done better than many would have ever expected because we’ve been really focused on making the Congress understand that all the things they want done, like increase the numbers of people processing visas in China and Brazil and shorten the time, takes money and takes people.
But it’s harder for us to make the interagency argument about our colleagues. We do work closely with Commerce, with Energy, with USDA. You go across our government; we now have representatives from so many different agencies in country under chief of mission authority. So we do have to help our colleagues in other parts of the government understand the role that they play in our 21^st century statecraft. And that’s particularly true in E, because in order to practice what we do call economic statecraft, we want a team. We want the American team out there working for us.
And I think that it’s going to be challenging because the number of positions that Commerce is able to fund, for example, in the Arab Spring region has dropped. And so we’ve been scrambling to try to help Commerce keep personnel experts in North Africa so they can work with us in order to be able to promote economic opportunity. In a globalized world like the one we’re in, the tools of foreign policy are not just within this Department or even development just within USAID. And so we have to be smarter about how we make a broader case. And so it’s a very good question.
One of the reasons we consolidated what we did inside E was to try to get everything in one place so that we’re more effective in putting forth our positions. And then from that, I hope we can in this new alignment of economic growth, energy, and the environment be more effective in working with our colleagues across the government. But it’s a challenge, and I appreciate you for raising it.
MODERATOR: Madam Secretary, this next question is probably one of the most discussed topics on the Sounding Board. Todd Schwartz asks: Are there are steps that can be taken to accelerate the upgrade of Internet Explorer on Department systems? (Laughter.) (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: I remember the first time I did a town hall, and I think I was asked about this. I hope you agree we’ve made progress. We continue to make progress. We know how important this is for all of you. As I recall – it seems so long ago – but three years or so ago we really didn’t – we really were not in the 21^st century; let me put it that way. But under great leadership from Pat and our team, we have made progress.
So today I’m happy to announce – (laughter) – we really do read the Sounding Board – (laughter) – that Google Chrome will be deployed worldwide on February 14^th – (applause) – that’s my Valentine’s present to all of you. (Laughter.) Internet Explorer 8 will be deployed on March 20^th – (applause) – and for more details you can go to State cable 7330, which officially announced this January 25^th.
Now, Google Chrome is intended to be an optional browser. It may not work with all the Department internet sites or applications, but we believe it will greatly improve the accessibility and performance with external sites. Internet Explorer 8 has been tested with Department enterprise applications; it’s precisely this sort of quality control testing that delays the deployment of newer versions of Explorer. Pat’s informed me that it’s the assessment of our incredible, crack information systems team that will skip Internet Explorer 9 completely and deploy Internet Explorer 10 on or before February of next year. So we’re moving, moving, moving, and we appreciate the constant prodding, prodding, prodding – (laughter) – that we get from the Sounding Board.
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name is Virginia Benninghoff. I work in IIP in the Office of European Affairs, and I have a question on our foreign policy, if I may.
Regarding the atrocities that happened in the beginning of the 20^th century that some would label the Armenian genocide, I am wondering why it is that we do not recognize it as such, and if it has to do with our classification of what a genocide is, or more to do with our relationship with Turkey. And given the recent legislation that was passed by lawmakers in France criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide, whether – what our stance is on that? My understanding is that Under Secretary Sherman was there recently, and I wondered if that came up and what our position is. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, one of our great strengths is we do not criminalize speech. People can say nearly anything they choose, and they do, in our country. (Applause.) And so other countries, including close friends and allies like France, have different standards, different histories, but we are, I hope, never going to go down that path to criminalize speech.
I think it’s fair to say that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political. And I think that is the right posture for the United States Government to be in, because whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to try to use government power to resolve historical issues, I think, opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through. So the issue is a very emotional one; I recognize that and I have great sympathy for those who are just so incredibly passionate about it.
But I think the free market of ideas, the academic community, the open architecture of communication that is even greater now than it was in the past, are the proper fora for this kind of engagement, and that’s where I hope it is worked out. And eventually, people will have their own conclusions, which needs to be respected, but we need to encourage anyone on any side of any contentious historical debate to get out into the marketplace of ideas. Muster your evidence, put forth your arguments, and be willing to engage, and that’s what I think should happen on that too. (Applause.)
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name is Behar Gidani, and the last time I stood before you I was an intern, and now I’m a program analyst, so it’s quite an honor to be here before you again today. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good, good.
QUESTION: My question is regarding foreign policy, if I may. As a Kurdish American, much of my interest focuses on the current state of Iraqi political affairs. Given what’s going on or what’s happened since the American troop withdrawal, with Hashimi fleeing to the Kurdistan region, I was wondering what the role of U.S. diplomacy is right now with that situation, and what you hope you will see in the future to ensure Iraqi security and democracy and stability continue.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, I’m delighted that you’ve gone from intern to full-fledged employee in such a short period of time, and we’re delighted, and that’s exactly the kind of movement of young people into our ranks that I’m thrilled to see.
Look, there is no doubt – all one has to do is follow the media – that there’s a lot of political contention in Iraq right now. The United States, led by our very able, experienced Ambassador Jim Jeffrey – I don’t know if the man has slept more than an hour or two, because he is constantly, along with his able team, reaching out, meeting with, cajoling, pushing the players, starting with Prime Minister Maliki, not to blow this opportunity. Let me just be very clear: This is an opportunity for the Iraqi people of all areas of Iraq, of all religious affiliation, of all backgrounds – this is an opportunity to have a unified Iraq, and the only way to do that is by compromising.
And one of the challenges in new democracies is that compromise is not in the vocabulary, especially in countries where people were oppressed, brutalized over many years. They believe that democracy gives them the opportunity to exercise power and, even though it’s not the specific individual – Saddam Hussein is gone – he oppressed the Shia, he terribly abused the Kurds, including chemical attacks – he’s gone, but people’s minds are not yet fully open to the potential for what this new opportunity can mean to them. And unfortunately, there’s a lot of line-drawing going on and boundary-imposing between different political factions.
So we are certainly conveying in as strong a message as we can that these political difficulties and disagreements have to be peacefully resolved for the good of all Iraqis, and that everyone has a chance to grow the pie bigger, to have more freedom, more economic prosperity by working together.
And it’s not easy. It’s unfortunately one of the challenges we face everywhere in the world right now. With the great movement toward democracy, which we welcome and applaud, it has upended a lot of the historical experiences that people have held onto, and there is a need to get moving beyond that. But it will take time. The United States will be firmly in the role of advising and mentoring and playing the go-between in every way that we possibly can. But at the end of the day, Iraq is now a democracy, but they need to act like one, and that requires compromise.
And so I’m hoping that there will be a recognition of that, and such a tremendous potential to be realized. Iraq can be such a rich country – it’s already showing that with the oil revenues starting to flow again – but problems have to be resolved. They cannot be ignored or mandated by authoritarianism; they have to be worked through the political process. (Applause.)
MODERATOR: Madam Secretary, we received two very similar questions from Katherine Koehler and Eric Clayborn that ask you about your vision for us: From the most senior employee to the most junior, in an era of limited resources, what is the one thing that we can do every day in our work, in our attitude, to make sure we reflect the priorities and values of the Department and your strategic vision for smart power? Can you give us a vision of what it means to work creatively and innovatively, given the growth of issues that we must deal with and the reality of the resources that we have?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, that is a very important question that would probably deserves a much longer answer. But let me just say that part of the vision is in the QDDR. I mean, that is really what drove our doing the QDDR, and why we asked so many of you to participate in helping us think through what the vision was for diplomacy and development, to have an openness to change, to learn new skills, to be willing to collaborate and listen to one another, not to defend the past.
If the past is worth defending in the values and the practices that we used, then make the case for them, not a reflexive “This is the way we’ve always done it, this is how we expect to do it forever, I’m too old to change” – I relate to that. (Laughter.) So I think it’s both institutional and personal attributes that we are trying, together, to examine. And there is an opportunity – I always believed that the best change comes from the bottom up. It comes from empowered employees saying: “Look, I’ve got this great idea.” (Applause.)
So to everyone, feel that empowerment. And then to supervisors, managers, et cetera, be open to those ideas. Not every idea is a good one. That is to be – you have to say that. (Laughter.) Because even if you believe it and you’ve spent a long time working on it, doesn’t necessarily mean it will carry the day. But how do you know unless you ask, unless you deliver, and not just stand to one side and say, “Well, if they only did what I would have them do,” or “Why are they doing that,” well, that’s not helpful to anybody. And I am sure that we’ll find it increases stress levels and all kinds of health problems. So come forward with ideas, and then I want to encourage everyone at the supervisor level to be open to listen – doesn’t mean you’re going to agree or accept, but to have that give and take. And that is what we’re looking for.
When you think about 21^st century diplomacy, we’re asking our director general, we’re asking FSI, to envision what is the training, what are the new modes of thinking that we have to equip you with. Because you’re not your mother’s or your father’s diplomat or Foreign Service officer or Civil Service expert; you’re coming with a new set of challenges. So how can we help equip you, but then how can you help prepare yourself to be ready?
So I think if you look at the QDDR and kind of go through that and imagine how this will lead to the vision of our role in the world, how we can be more effective, more impactful, how we can go further on less, because there is no guarantee in these austere times that we’re going to have what we would ideally like – that starts a conversation. And in kind of the office groupings, the subject matter groupings, the affinity groupings, have that conversation and then come with ideas either through the Sounding Board or directly to people in positions of responsibility. And let’s see where it leads and we’ll do our best. (Applause.)
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning.
QUESTION: My name is Leon Galanos.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Could you get just a little closer to the microphone?
QUESTION: Sorry.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
QUESTION: My name is Leon Galanos. I am with the Management Office of Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation. I work for Under Secretary Kennedy.
In your opening letter in the QDDR, you ask the question, “How do we do better?” I’d like to say that in order to meet the program goals of the QDDR, we need that strong management platform in the Department and USAID. And an important component of that management platform is how we manage data, information. I just want you to know that we have a inter-bureau working group which started in June 2011 that is working to getting all those silos together to share data, to access data better, so that you get that information you need quicker and more accurately. And we would be keen on meeting with your staff, debriefing them on our success and the work yet to be done.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we will do that, because you’re a hundred percent right. In today’s world, you can either manage data or be drowned by it. And it is – that’s the choice. And if you start being drowned, the natural human inclination is just to ignore. So the smarter we can be about managing and presenting and utilizing data – so we’ll follow through on that, Pat, okay?
QUESTION: Not a question. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s okay. A shameless but very important plug. (Laughter and applause.)
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name’s Michelle Lakomy. I’m a member of the Civilian Response Corps. I wanted to know what your vision for the Civilian Response Corps and the interagency is and their role in the implementation of the QDDR in the next few years.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Great question. Is Rick Barton here? There he is. Rick’s right in front of me. We were so fortunate to recruit Rick to be the first leader of the CSO. And I think his vision and what all of you are thinking through will answer that question.
I want us to be able to deploy expertise in the form of Americans, both from the government, from the outside if appropriate but part of our network, to be on the ground, as I said in my remarks, doing what is necessary to protect us, promote our values, and further our interests. And that’s why this is so exciting, because I can’t, standing here today, tell you exactly all of the different roles and functions that CSO will perform. It will – it already does have a very tight partnership with counterparts in AID. We need to increase the flow of information and cooperation but then, going beyond that, into the rest of the government.
But I do know this: This was absolutely one of the most important decisions that came out of the QDDR. We entered into it with a question like, “Well, do we need this?” I mean, is this – because we’d had some efforts that were really quite important but never were given the support, the resources, the attention and time that they deserved. So it was a natural question to say, “Do we need this?” And the answer was resoundingly yes, but it has to be done the right way.
So I’m hoping that as we go through the startup and the consolidation of the CSO, you’ll be coming to me to say, “Well, here’s what we need to do, what we think we should be doing,” and I will be as responsive as I can.
QUESTION: Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: Madam Secretary, another question from the field (inaudible) Sounding Board.
MODERATOR: Madam Secretary, this question comes from Noah Donadieu from Istanbul and it relates to staffing and career development. He says: With the recent hiring surge, many mid-level Foreign Service positions were ceded to entry level in order to provide positions for those newly minted FSOs. Now that hiring has slowed and the first wave of these hires are approaching mid-level bidding, how does the Department plan to return these positions to the mid level? Is there a timeline for this process?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I can tell you and everyone who’s worried about this that HR is developing a plan to move positions where they’re needed, when they’re needed, because we are aware of this problem. This will be done in close consultation with the bureaus, because we obviously don’t want anyone who came in at an entry level to feel like there’s nowhere for them to go. So we’re going to be taking a hard look at this.
I mean, it was one of the good problems we had, like how were we going to quickly incorporate, integrate our new entry-level hires because we had so many of them. And that was our goal – to begin to refill our ranks. But now we have to take a look at what changes have to be made to kind of keep the momentum going for these young – not all young, but many young – entry-level people. So thank you.
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name is Susan Johnson. I’m the president of AFSA. And first of all, I’d like to thank you for that excellent and exciting update and overview of QDDR implementation and for your really inspiring advocacy for all of us to embrace change, participate in it, and see what we can do to make our agencies more effective in advancing and protecting U.S. interests. So thank you very much. AFSA really welcomes this. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, President Obama led his State of the Union Address with the remarks, and I’ll quote, “Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought and several thousand gave their lives.” The President continued, “For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq.”
Madam Secretary, you know that all of us salute the accomplishments and sacrifices of our military colleagues, and in fact, many in our community are former veterans of the Armed Services. My question is: What are your ideas and thoughts on what the State Department can do to ensure that the American people remember and better appreciate that we all – the men and women of the State Department and our other foreign affairs agencies – are still there, are still in harm’s way, are still taking care of business and advancing the interests of the United States? And the related question: How can AFSA help? (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think that’s a very fair question, and we are obviously trying to talk about it, trying to raise the visibility of it. This is the largest post-conflict operation the State Department has ever tried to lead and manage. It’s hard. Many of you have spent time trying to help us with this transition. But I think when I see the President tomorrow, I will mention to him the importance of also having presidential attention to our members of the civilian side of the ledger who are still in Iraq and who are still facing a lot of threats and dangers.
And he is very mindful of that, very grateful for it, and I think will look for an opportunity to try to raise it to a higher visibility. So I thank you very much. And of course, AFSA has been a good partner in all of this work, and we continue to appreciate your support and your constructive criticism. Thank you. (Applause.)
MODERATOR: Madam Secretary, we have another synthesis of two similar questions from Elizabeth Williams and Adam Kaufman about the future of the State Department and you in 2013. The State Department has been very fortunate to have an experienced, intelligent, productive, and passionate Secretary these past few years. With the election season – (applause) –
SECRETARY CLINTON: Can we put that first part of the question in writing – (laughter) – so I can put it in front of me when it gets really, really hard? (Laughter.)
MODERATOR: We’ll put it on your EER. (Laughter.) With the election season fast approaching, can you offer any predictions for the State Department after the elections in November? Specifically, are you considering staying on or not? This is the synthesis: What could we do to persuade you to run for Vice President? (Laughter.) After your tenure here comes to an end, what will you do, and what will become of us? (Laughter.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, my goodness. Well, first of all, it’s one of the most extraordinary, wonderful experiences being able to work with all of you, which I am always telling people everywhere, how privileged I am. I think I have made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the President nominates someone and that transition can occur, but I think after 20 years – and it will be 20 years – of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be a – probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am. (Laughter.) Everyone always says that when they leave these jobs.
But I have no reason to have any concerns about the future of this Department and USAID so long as we continue to do what we are doing to really make the case to a broad base of the American public about who we are, what we stand for, the work we do, why it’s important.
And I am looking forward to this year. I don’t want to think about what might come next, because I don’t want me or any of us to divert our attention. I think the best case we can make is to do the work we’re doing every day at the highest possible standards and trying to achieve the best outcomes for our country.
And then the election is going to, I’m sure, suck up a lot of the attention from following areas that we think are so important – trying to resolve frozen conflicts, trying to bring food and healthcare and education to desperately poor people, trying to build up America’s reputation and reality in so many places in the world. But the good news is maybe we can even get more done if they’re not paying attention. (Laughter.) So just factor that in.
And I think from my perspective, I will just work as hard as I can to the last minute I have the honor of being Secretary and certainly do everything, no matter what I do, which I have no idea what it will be, to support all of you. And I am happy to work with Vice President Biden, who does an excellent job and who is a huge advocate and supporter for this Department and for USAID. So it’s a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season since, as Secretary of State, I cannot participate. But I didn’t watch any of those debates. (Laughter and applause.)
UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: Unfortunately for us, that will have to be last question.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Okay.
UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: Because you have another engagement.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you all very, very much. Let’s keep going. (Applause.)
# # #

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 26, 2012

2012-01-26T11:41:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 26, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 26, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with assistant secretaries from the regional bureaus, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a town hall meeting on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

11:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with General James Mattis, Commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:40 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with participants from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Washington Ambassadors Conference, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:50 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with participants from the U.S.-Philippines Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Secretary Clinton's Video Remarks to Yala Young Leaders

2012-01-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

Video Remarks to the Yala Young Leaders Regional Peace and Economic Cooperation Conference

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 25, 2012

I am delighted to send greetings to all of you who have gathered in this virtual space to help shape the future of the Middle East.

In 2011, millions of young people across the Middle East stood up to the status quo and demanded change. Today, the Middle East looks drastically different. Armed with conviction and aided by technology, you pushed forward the political, economic, and social change that is now pulsing across the region. And your voices will continue to be invaluable in the process of brokering regional peace.

This conference is an opportunity for all of you, both Arab and Israeli, to engage in a dialogue about your shared future—about peace in the region as well as your day-to-day problems, worries, and dreams. You come to the table with the hope that you can look past your differences and lay the foundation for peace, and I admire your resolve to engage in these difficult discussions. I look forward to hearing your ideas, your perspectives, and your vision for the future as you work hand-in-hand to chart a course for a more peaceful and prosperous world. Thank you.

Video: Secretary Clinton Meets with Brazilian Youth Ambassadors

2012-01-25T15:26:00.000-05:00

Meets WithBrazilian Youth Participating in the Youth Ambassadors Program

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
January25, 2012

We are so excited to have you here, and I wish I had time to hear about allof the adventures that you’ve been having as part of this program. But you areambassadors. That’s how we think of you – youth ambassadors. And because we sogreatly value the relationship between the Brazilian people and the Americanpeople, we are counting on you to continue to reach out and develop your ownskills and your own ambitions to make a contribution to Brazil and also tofurther relations between our two countries.
It’s an exciting time to be a young Brazilian. When I look at the changesthat have happened in your lifetimes, there probably is no country on earthwhere more has happened, that have created more opportunities for more people.And you come from across this great, beautiful country of Brazil. You are eachunique, you each have your own dreams, and the fact that you competed for thisopportunity and then won a spot to come, I think, is a great tribute to you.But it’s also a responsibility because we know that you have a great futureahead of you.
And we hope that you’ll stay in touch with the people you’ve met here, witheach other, a new network of young Brazilians, and that we’ll be hearing aboutyou and from you as the years go by. So again, welcome to the State Department,and I’m going to sit right there, we’re going to have a picture taken. You alllook great. (Laughter.) So it’s going to be a keeper, as we like to say.
But finally, in addition to the great opportunities that you had, we hopethat more American young people will be coming to Brazil. We want this to be avery busy two-way street. And in fact, more people are coming from Brazil tothe United States that I’ve had to add many more people to do the visas, becausethere’s so much interest. And there’s a lot of interest in people under 18. SoI want to encourage more young Americans to go to Brazil, so I hope you’llshare your ideas about how we can do more of that. Both of our presidents –President Obama and President Rousseff – have worked to create more educationalexchanges, more youth exchanges, but I’m looking to you as the experts to tellus what more we can do that you think will work to create this super highwaybetween our two countries.
So again, welcome and thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 25, 2012

2012-01-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 25, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 25, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the senior management team, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Brazilian youth participating in the Youth Ambassadors program, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS)
Please click here for more information.

10:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:45 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks and participates in a question and answer session at the Inaugural Steering Committee Meeting with the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

HRC @ ICWBL & SOTU: Slideshow

2012-01-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the Inaugural International Council on Women's Business Leadership meeting this morning and the State of the Union tonight.

On Hillary Clinton's Agenda and Other Good News from the State Department

2012-01-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

Mme. Secretary has a youth event tomorrow, something she is sure to enjoy. In other news from the State Department, if you have a book passport, for $30 you can now apply online for a passport card useful for travel in North America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. (A good form of portable ID.) Readers in Turkey will be interested to know that the State Department has launched a Turkish language Twitter account!

Secretary Clinton to Greet Youth Ambassadors from Brazil

Notice to the Press
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 24, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will welcome 45 Brazilian Youth Ambassadors to the U.S. Department of State on Wednesday, January 25, at 10:00 a.m.
The Youth Ambassadors Program, created in Brazil in 2002, is a three-week exchange program that focuses on civic education, leadership, and community service for youth, ages 15-18. This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the program, which has expanded to 25 countries across the Americas. The program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in coordination with the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

U.S. Passport Card Online Application Now Available

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 23, 2012

On January 24, the Department of State’s Office of Passport Services will launch a 90-day pilot program allowing adult U.S. citizens living in the United States and Canada to apply for a passport card online. By applying online, customers will not be required to mail in their current passport book and necessary forms, saving them time and money.
To participate in this program, applicants must currently possess a valid 10-year U.S. passport book, upload an acceptable digital photograph and make an online payment in U.S. dollars via Pay.gov. Applications accepted through the program will be subject to the same strict adjudication standards as in-person or mail-in applications.
This pilot program is the Department’s signature initiative under Presidential Executive Order 13571 to simplify customer service interactions and streamline related processes, making them more efficient.
The Department of State began producing the passport card in 2008 in response to travel document requirements imposed by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Since then, more than 4.5 million cards have been issued. The wallet-sized passport card is a low-cost alternative to the passport book. The U.S. passport card costs $30 for current passport book holders, and is valid for land and sea travel to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. It is not valid for international air travel.
To apply for the passport card using the online application, visit travel.state.gov.

U.S. Department of State Launches Turkish-Language Twitter Account, @ABDTurk

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 23, 2012

The U.S. Department of announced today the launch of its Turkish-language Twitter account @ABDTurk, joining the Department’s 10 official feeds in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu. These social media accounts serve as a conduit for the U.S. Department of State to inform and engage publics around the world on foreign policy issues.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. said, “The addition of @ABDTurk to our digital diplomacy at U.S. Mission Turkey underscores the high priority that we place on our relationship with Turkey. We are always seeking to expand the ways in which we can inform and engage with the people of Turkey.”
@ABDTurk complements U.S. Mission Turkey’s existing outreach on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and represents another step in the United States’ commitment to building a strong 21^st century partnership with the government and people of Turkey.
To kick-off @ABDTurk, Ambassador Ricciardone will lead an hour long “Twitterview” on January 31, 2012, at 16:00 hrs local (0900 EST) on U.S.-Turkey relations. U.S. Mission Turkey will begin accepting questions today on @ABDTurk or at http://twitter.com/USEmbassyTurkey.
The launch of @ABDTurk coincides with the Department’s celebration of 21^st Century Statecraft month. Twenty-first Century Statecraft complements traditional foreign policy by harnessing the digital networks and technologies of an interconnected world. Throughout January 2012, U.S. officials in Washington, D.C. and at U.S. Missions abroad are hosting digital engagements across multiple social media platforms.

Video: Secretary Clinton at International Council on Women's Business Leadership

2012-01-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

Inaugural Meetingof the International Council on Women's Business Leadership

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Ben Franklin Room
Washington, DC
January24, 2012

Well, good morning everyone. And let me again welcome you here to the StateDepartment, to the Ben Franklin Room, for this first meeting of theInternational Council on Women’s Business Leadership. This is a trulyremarkable group, and I want to thank each and every one of you for taking timeout of your very busy schedules to travel here to share your experiences andyour insights as to what more we can do to promote women in the ranks ofbusiness and provide more opportunities for them to participate.
I want, particularly, to thank our vice chair, Cherie Booth Blair. We’veworked together on so many challenges over the years. Her foundation supportswomen entrepreneurs around the world, and I’ve had an opportunity tocollaborate with her and the foundation on the mWomen initiative to close theglobal gender gap that prevents hundreds of millions of women from gainingaccess to mobile technology. We all know that when women have the tools toparticipate in the formal economy, when they have access to information andopportunity, they can be full participants.
Our other vice chair, Indra Nooyi, unfortunately could not be here.Something came up which prevented her from attending. But her leadership atPepsiCo is a model for entrepreneurs and executives around the world, and shehas been closely involved in helping to organize this meeting, and I think shetwisted a few arms of some of you to participate as well.
Valerie Jarrett, President Obama’s special advisor, also asked that we sendher regrets. The President’s delivering his State of the Union this evening,and she was not able to break free from that, something I totally understandfrom my prior life. And I think that we’re very fortunate to have such a goodturnout today.
I only want to say a few words, because really, the point of bringing suchdistinguished, successful women here around this table is to hear from you andto get very specific ideas about what you think can help us boost growth, takesome of the untapped resources and mobilize them, follow smart strategies toincrease productivity, and add new value to companies and economies. Now,everyone is searching for answers to those questions, but not enough peoplerealize that part of the answer, a large part of the answer, lies with women.
Last September, I delivered a speech in San Francisco at the APEC, theAsia-Pacific economic conference lead-up, to make the case for increasingwomen’s participation in the global economy. You know from your own experiencesthat when women enjoy greater access and opportunity, there is a ripple effect.Businesses have more consumers, families have more to spend, and so it goesthrough the economy.
We have people around this table who have devoted their professional livesto unlocking the answers to these questions. Sri Mulyani here from the World Bank– she can tell us, in first-person detail, about how the Bank has released anew report, which I commend to all of you, about the impact women can have, notjust for themselves and their families, something we’ve always known, but forentire economies. If women participated fully even in our own country, our GDPwould rise considerably, and that is even more true in many other parts of theworld.
The State Department has another advisory council whose subcommittee onwomen has produced a new report that looks specifically at the impact of womenbusiness leaders on companies and organizations. I want to thank its co-chairs,Judith Barnett and Jeff Volk, who are right there, for their leadership. Now,we’ll have the full results soon, but one fact is already clear: Including morewomen at the top of organizations, businesses, and the public sector is notjust the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. It’s good forbusiness. It’s good for results.
Now, we all know the numbers. About three percent of the CEOs of FortuneGlobal 500 companies are women. There are still a lot of obstacles to womenentering. It depends, of course, on national, cultural, ethnic, religiousreasons. But it cuts across all of that, and it is, to a greater or lesserdegree, present in every society.
So the challenge before us today as we represent government, business, NGOs,workers, institutions is what are the ideas that we can promote that can helpwomen be able to fulfill their own potential. How do we widen that circle ofprosperity which will lift the entire global economy – women and men alike –and how do we, within our own organizations, do more to train and promote womento positions of leadership?
I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas, your initiatives, your thoughts,and looking forward to working with you to try to implement them. So let me nowturn to my friend and fellow chair, Cherie.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 24, 2012

2012-01-24T09:55:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 24, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 24, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton hosts the inaugural meeting of the International Council on Women's Business Leadership, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS FOR REMARKS)
Please click here for more information.

12:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

5:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

8:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends the State of the Union address, at the U.S. Capitol Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY CONGRESS)

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 23, 2012

Public Schedule

Washington, DC

January 23, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the assistant secretaries, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Tuesday: Inaugural Meeting of Secretary Clinton's International Council on Women's Business Leadership

2012-01-22T12:11:00.001-05:00

Inaugural Meeting of Secretary Clinton's International Council on Women's Business Leadership

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 20, 2012

On Tuesday, January 24^th, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will host the first meeting of the International Council on Women’s Business Leadership at the State Department in Washington, D.C. The meeting can be viewed via live webcast on the Internet at http://www.state.gov/e/eb/adcom/icwbl/.
The Council serves the United States government in an advisory capacity on major issues in international business and economic policy, including the effective integration of business interests and women’s economic empowerment into overall foreign policy; the role and limits of international economic institutions from a gender-specific perspective; and the Department of State’s role in advancing and promoting the role of women in a competitive global economy.
Secretary Clinton selected a distinguished, diverse, and international membership for the Council, representing a wide range of expertise and backgrounds, including leaders of American and foreign, public and private sector organizations. Secretary Clinton will serve as the Council’s Chair. The Council’s members are listed below; each will serve a two-year term.
Council Vice Chairs:
Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (United Kingdom)
Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, Inc. (USA)
Council Members:
Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia)
Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister for Foreign Trade (UAE)
Beth A. Brooke, Global Vice Chair of Public Policy, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Engagement, Ernst & Young (USA)
Wanda Engel, Executive President, Unibanco Institute (Brazil)
Susan Fleishman, Executive VP for Corporate Communications, Warner Brothers (USA)
M. Audrey Hinchcliffe, Founder and Principal Consultant of Caribbean Health Management (Jamaica)
Catherine L. Hughes, Chairperson of the Board and Secretary, Radio One (USA)
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director, The World Bank (Indonesia)
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, The White House (USA)
Wendy Luhabe, Founder/Chairman, Women Private Equity Funds (South Africa)
Ory Okolloh, Policy Manager for Africa, Google (Kenya)
Maud E. Olofsson, former MP and former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Enterprise and Energy (Sweden)
Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation (USA)
Meera H. Sanyal, Chairperson and Country Executive, ABN AMRO / RBS Bank India (India)
Elizabeth H. Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO (USA)
Ofra Strauss, Chairwoman of the Board, Strauss Group (Israel)
Sally Susman, Executive VP for Policy, External Affairs, and Communications, Pfizer (USA)
Zhang Xin, CEO, SOHO China (China)

Slideshow: Hillary Clinton and Guido Westerwelle

2012-01-21T19:07:00.000-05:00

A few of these are real keepers.

Happy Lunar New Year from Hillary Clinton

2012-01-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raises her glass with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, right, during a toast at a state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 19, 2011. The dinner to honor Hu's visit had an extensive guest list of Chinese-Americans, including the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., and also includes the head of General Electric, which reached a deal this week to sell advanced airplane technology to a Chinese state-owned company., Place: WASHINGTON,USA, Credit line: profimedia.cz, New York Times

Lunar New Year

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 19, 2012

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes for peace, prosperity, and good health to everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Around the world, people will welcome the Year of the Dragon with rich and varied traditions. Asian Americans will gather with family and friends in communities across the United States to celebrate their vibrant heritage and the ties that unite all of us. President Obama and I are committed to our 21st century partnership with the people of the Asia-Pacific region, and we will continue to deepen ties with our allies and partners, while strengthening lasting bonds of friendship and cooperation.
Throughout this new year, and in the years to come, let us continue to work together to realize new opportunities and make progress on the shared challenges we face.

Secretary Clinton with German FM Westerwelle

2012-01-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Remarks With German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 20, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon, everyone. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome the foreign minister back once again to the State Department. Germany and the United States are steadfast allies and close partners on a range of issues. We’re also good friends, and I was happy to see the minister shortly after he hit the 50-year mark, which is a very important milestone.FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: Thank you so much, and thank you for the birthday cake. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think – are we going to do consecutive translation on both sides or just on the German side?
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: No. We will speak English.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Okay. You’ll speak English. Okay. Then we’ll not do it unless we have a question that calls for it.
Guido and I discussed Afghanistan. We obviously are very committed to the path forward for a stable, peaceful Afghanistan. We are deeply regretting the bad news about the four French soldiers killed earlier today in the second attack on French soldiers this month. That follows the deaths yesterday of six U.S. Marines in a helicopter crash. So let me express, on behalf of all Americans, are deepest condolences to the families of both those French and American soldiers. We know what a personal loss that is and how important it is we work toward our goal of security and long-term stability.
I want to thank Guido once again for hosting the Bonn conference on Afghanistan last month and the continuing bravery of German soldiers who serve with such distinction as the third largest national contingent in our NATO-ISAF forces.
We’re looking forward to our work in May in Chicago at the NATO summit, where we will advance several NATO priorities. Let me say clearly the United States is fully committed to maintaining a force posture in Europe that meets our enduring commitment to European security and our collective defense obligations to our NATO allies. We are grateful to Germany for hosting the U.S. military for many years, and we will be maintaining a close relationship going forward. We recognize that the transatlantic partnership is absolutely indispensable to our own security and well-being.
We are also focused on economic security, and we both recognize and appreciate greatly Germany’s leadership role in resolving the debt crisis facing Europe. I can only imagine how challenging this is. And as I conveyed to the minister, the United States stands in support of Germany as it leads the way for all of the Eurozone countries to regain their economic footing and to implement measures that will restore sustainable and balanced growth.
We discussed at some length our nation’s shared concerns regarding Iran and the steps it has taken toward furthering its nuclear weapons ambitions. We are both firmly committed to the dual-track approach, pressure to bring about meaningful engagement by Iran on its program, and we are closely coordinating as we implement sanctions.
We talked about so many things. We talked about North Africa, Egypt, Syria, the Middle East, and so much more. So as always, we have a very comprehensive agenda to cover, and I appreciate your being here for us to continue the conversation.
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: Thank you so much, Madam Secretary Hillary. Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude for the hospitality for the warm welcome here, and in this specific and special case also for the wonderful and delicious birthday cake we just had a few minutes before. Don’t be jealous, it was really delicious. (Laughter.)
And I would like to say that this is, of course, not only an expression of our close collaboration, it is also an expression of our wonderful and very personal relationship. The United States is our most important partner and ally behind Europe. Close cooperation across the Atlantic is essential in times of global changes and enormous political challenges, so we discussed, of course, the deeply worrying situation in Syria. The regime of President Assad must be stopped urgently. We support the efforts by the Arab League to solve the crisis, and we agree that the United Nations Security Council must take a clear position to condemn the violence by the Syrian regime.
On Iran, I have informed my colleague, Madam Secretary, about the discussions in the European Union on new sanctions. The government in Tehran keeps violating its international obligations on the transparency of its nuclear program. We have no choice but to pass tough new sanctions that address the financial sources of the nuclear program. One this is clear, the door for serious dialogue remains open, but the option of nuclear weapons in Iran is not acceptable to both of us.
And I want to repeat what I said to my colleague and friend in the last hour before. I think it is important for all of us to see that a nuclear option is not acceptable of Iran. And this is not only our raison d’etre, to protect Israel. It is also a question of the balance in the region, and it’s also unacceptable if we look to the situation and the nonproliferation necessity worldwide. So I think this is a serious situation, but we will stand united to give a common and clear and, unfortunately, tough answer, because a nuclear option for Iran is not acceptable – not for the region, not for the world.
We also discussed the situation in the transformation countries of the Arab Spring. There are enormous political and economic challenges, and we have to support a successful transformation. I explained our transformation partnership program, which we designed in Germany and what was introduced in our European policy, and I think it is successful. But we all know we have to see and we have to differentiate from country to country, and I think this is necessary that we do not think one answer fits all, one size fits all. I think it is necessary to give specified answers and differentiated answers.
We also discussed the preparation of the NATO summit in Chicago in May. Of course, this is important for us. We both want a successful NATO meeting in Chicago, and we’re looking forward to this. Once again, we are looking forward for all the hospitality of the Government of the United States of America. And of course we want this summit to become a success and we will work hard for this.
We also discussed – and this is what I wanted to underline because it is important not only for your discussions, but it’s a crucial time for us in Europe, of course, like you all know – we also discussed the debt crisis in Europe. I know that some in the United States paint a dark picture of an old continent unable to solve its problems. First of all, allow me in an ironical remark. We finished socialism with the support of the United States of America 20 years ago, and we know that we have to show solidarity. This is our desire and our destiny. As Germans, we know that Europe is not only the answer to the darkest chapter of our own history; it is also our life insurance in times of globalization. And I think it is crystal clear that Germany is committed to Europe and to the Eurozone, and we will show solidarity on the one hand, but on the other hand we also will ask for structural reforms because both is the answer to this present crisis.
Well, thank you so much for the hospitality and I, unfortunately, also want to say a few words to this latest attacks and the killings of our soldiers and our friends in Afghanistan. I am shocked by the tragic death of the French and the American soldiers in Afghanistan. I would like to express my sympathy and my deepest condolences in the name of the Federal Republic of Germany to all the families and to the relatives. But also it’s clear tragic setbacks such as this must not stop our engagement for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Thank you, Hillary. Thank you so much
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you for your --
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: -- for the time and the hospitality.
MS. NULAND: We’ll take two today, one from each side. First one is from Kirit Ridia, ABC.
QUESTION: Hi, Madam Secretary, Mr. Minister. A question on Iran, if I may. Iran in recent days has expressed some willingness to return to talks on its nuclear program. Just today, Lady Ashton released a letter she sent to the Iranians in October in which she calls on them to take some concrete steps for confidence building. First question would be: What exactly are those steps that you’re looking for the Iranians to take? And second, do you take them at their word this time that they’re willing to fully engage?
And if I may Madam Secretary, in our way of asking two questions – (laughter) – you’ve made a decision not to testify on the Keystone XL pipeline next week. Can you explain why you don’t want to do that? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well Kirit, first let me say that we’re going to miss you. I understand this may be the last time I get two, three, or four questions from you. (Laughter.) But we wish you well as I think you head off to Moscow, which will be an exciting assignment, from all indications.
With respect to Iran, first let me say that we have a very strong partnership with the EU, and we expect to see the EU taking some additional steps to keep the pressure on Iran in the coming days. And I believe that we’re making it clear to Iran, as the minister said, that its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its needless provocations such as the threats regarding the Straits of Hormuz, place it on a dangerous path. Iran does have a choice to make. It can come back to the table, as we have consistently made clear to them, and address the nuclear program concerns that the international community rightly has or face increasing pressure and isolation.
I want to underscore we do not seek conflict. We strongly believe the people of Iran deserve a better future. They can have that future. The country can be reintegrated into the global community, able to share in the benefits when their government definitively turns away from pursuing nuclear weapons.
Last October, on behalf of the E-3+3 member nations, of which both Germany and the United States are two, High Representative Ashton did send the Iranians a letter saying that we are open to negotiations if Iran is serious about addressing the nuclear program without preconditions. We stand by that letter. The EU did make it public earlier today, and we await Iran’s response. And I think it’s been very important that the EU has kept this open channel. And we all are seeking clarity about the meaning behind Iran’s public statements that they are willing to engage, but we have to see a seriousness and sincerity of purpose coming from them.
And with respect to what we expect of them, I think we’ve made the letter public. They know we want to see them coming to the table to seriously engage about the future of a program that is prohibited under their obligations pursuant to the NPT and in light of Security Council resolutions. So we will await their response.
With respect to the Keystone XL Pipeline, as you know, on Wednesday, the Department of State recommended and President Obama agreed that the presidential permit for the proposed pipeline should be denied. That decision was based on the fact that the State Department did not have sufficient time to assess whether the project was in the national interest as a result of the limited timeframe set forth by Congress. And as the President said yesterday, this announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project or to make other decisions with respect to it and protect the American people.
The Department’s denial of the permit application does not preclude any subsequent permit application or applications for similar projects, and we are following our normal procedures and actually sending the official that actually knows something about this issue in great depth and has been leading our efforts, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Kerri-Ann Jones, to the Congress to testify.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) on Iran again. You didn’t say what those specific steps you wanted to see were from Iran. Can you tell us what those are?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we won’t know until we know whether they’re serious about engaging with us.
QUESTION: You don’t have anything in mind already?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, yeah. We do. They have to give up their nuclear weapons program. (Laughter.) They have to be – they have to be willing to come to the table with a plan to do that.
QUESTION: The confidence-building measures were specifically referenced in the letter --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, confidence-building measures would – I’m not going to go into any more detail. I appreciate your efforts to get me to do so. But I think what’s important is that confidence will start with their conveying a seriousness of purpose to engage with us and our partners in the E-3+3 process. That would build confidence, and then the additional steps will await the actual resumption of negotiations.
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: If I may add just a few words to this, because I agree to this answer a hundred percent. But I just want to explain with my words for the German Government and, of course, as a representative of the European Union here. This letter is important because it underscored and underlines our dual-track strategy. On the one hand, it is necessary to show the Iranian Government that we are united and that we do not accept any option for nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranian Government. That’s the one point. But on the other hand, second, it is also necessary to show that we are ready for dialogue, but we are ready for serious dialogue and substantial talks. Just to meet for show, that this meeting would be misused for propaganda, is not what we want to do. And therefore, I think this letter of Cathy Ashton is exactly expressing what our strategy is not only in Europe, together.
MS. NULAND: Last question. Hanni Husch of ARD.
QUESTION: Thank you, Madam Secretary, Herr Minister. Secretary, what exactly does the American Government expect from the German Government in solving the European debt crisis? Mr. Westerwelle made it perfect clear today that printing more money is not the answer.
And allow me, out of fairness, a second question. (Laughter.) A follow-up on –
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: This is the same (inaudible). (Laughter.)
QUESTION: A follow-up on Afghanistan. Mr. Sarkozy is considering the withdrawal of his troops. Is that the right answer?
SECRETARY CLINTON: With respect to the second question, I am in great sympathy with what happened to the French soldiers. It was terrible, and I can certainly appreciate the strong feelings that are being expressed.
We are in close contact with our French colleagues, and we have no reason to believe that France will do anything other than continue to be part of the very carefully considered transition process as we look at our exit, as previously agreed upon in Lisbon.
I think with respect to the Eurozone debt crisis, look, it’s not going to surprise you to hear me say that the United States cares deeply about what happens with this crisis. We have a great stake in the health and vitality of the European economic markets. European growth is essential for our growth. It’s essential for global growth. And we are – we know from our own experience that moving from crisis to recovery depends on rebuilding confidence and getting the economy to start moving again, producing jobs, producing growth. And Germany has been at the forefront of shaping the strategies to move Europe forward.
And as the minister said, there’s a lot of hard work ahead. We’re not going to stand over here on the other side of the Atlantic and second-guess the tough questions that you have to answer in Europe. But we think that our European partners, led by Germany, have laid a solid foundation on which to build a recovery. I know President Obama and Chancellor Merkel speak often about this. I know that the minister met with Secretary Geithner earlier today. So we are encouraging German decision making, German confidence building, German leadership, because it’s in the interests not only of Europe but of the United States as well.
FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: Please allow me some words especially, of course, to the American journalists here, because I think for me it is very crucial and it’s very important that you understand our point of view. We think a debt crisis cannot be solved and cannot be answered by making it easier to take up new debts. So we think it’s necessary that we have structural reforms. So for us, it’s always a combination, solidarity, and Germany showed a lot of solidarity. We put on the table for solidarity in the European Union 200 billion Euro. If I would compare this to the economy and to the size of the economy in the United States of America, this would be $1 trillion. So we have to compare the sizes of our economy and we have to compare, of course, the size of our countries.
So I think this underlines it and make it crystal clear that Germany knows their own responsibility, and all these programs are supported by a majority in the German Bundestag of all party lines around about 70 or 80 percent. So I think this is a clear signal.
But on the other hand, please understand us. If we just put money into the window, if we just put money on the table and we wouldn’t ask for structural reforms, we wouldn’t solve the cause of crisis. So structural reforms which increases the competitiveness in the countries in the European Union are essential. And I mean, we do not ask for anything more as Germany, as Germans, than what we delivered in the last 10 years by our own structural reforms. And this is the reason, together with the programs of the last two years, why Germany is so, with all modesty, successful in the European Union. So it’s a combination of both. We think it’s a debt crisis; it morphed into a confidence crisis; we have to answer both with solidarity but also with structural reforms. This is our combination.
And about Afghanistan, I just want to express one thing. Of course, we all feel sympathy with the families, with the victims, and we understand these discussions very well. You do, we do. But we should never forget why we are in Afghanistan. And Afghanistan may never become a safe haven for terrorists worldwide again, and this is the reason why we are there. We really are full of sympathy and we want to express our deepest condolences, but we think we have to continue because we have to protect our own security and our own freedom and way of life in the Western community.
Thank you so much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 20, 2012

2012-01-20T12:20:00.004-05:00

Public Schedule for January 20, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 20, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
10:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)
11:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
12:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING AT APPROXIMATELY 1:30 P.M.)

Hillary Clinton & Carl Bildt on Raoul Wallenberg: NY Times Op-Ed

2012-01-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Wallenberg's Life-Giving Legacy
Op-Ed
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden
The New York Times
January 16, 2012
Tuesday begins a yearlong celebration of the life of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who chose not to be indifferent when faced with great evil.
Raoul Wallenberg was born 100 years ago into a family of great wealth and influence. He could have remained safely in neutral Sweden during World War II. Instead, as first secretary at the Swedish Legation in Budapest in the summer of 1944, Wallenberg acted. Without concern for his own safety, he worked tirelessly to save thousands from certain death at the hands of the Nazis.
By the summer of 1944, more than 400,000 Jewish Hungarians had been put in trains and sent away, most to their deaths. Wallenberg began issuing Swedish “protective passports” to the remaining population of Jewish Hungarians. His inventiveness and determination to provide protection to as many Jews as possible are credited with saving the lives of some 100,000 people.
Of course, Wallenberg was not alone in taking such action. Others chose to risk their careers, and their lives, to defy official protocols and repressive laws to rescue Jews. Many were censured, punished or killed for their acts of courage.
As a result, at Israel’s Holocaust memorial site, Yad Vashem, you will find today planted along the Avenue of the Righteous not only Raoul Wallenberg’s tree, but also the trees of 2,000 others, as well as 18,000 names engraved in the walls in remembrance of those who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust.
Why did they do it? All of these heroes seemed to have shared the sentiment of the martyred Lutheran pastor and Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. ... Not to act is to act.”
Raoul Wallenberg’s mission was an example of American-Swedish cooperation for the common good. His work in Budapest was partly financed by the United States.
In 1981, to honor that work, the United States awarded Wallenberg honorary American citizenship. Wallenberg fought for values cherished in both Sweden and the United States. Together, we have long cooperated to protect and promote human rights at home and abroad.
Perhaps the most important part of Wallenberg’s legacy lies in its lessons for the generations to come. It is incumbent on us to pass on his story to those who come after us not as part of a distant heroic myth, but as an example of the values that should inform the way we live our lives.
In January, 2000, Stockholm acted as host to an International Forum on the Holocaust. The final sentence of the declaration of that forum stated: “Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity’s common aspiration for moral understanding and justice.”
Today, as we remember Raoul Wallenberg’s life and work, we reaffirm our common aspiration for moral understanding and justice.

Note: I know that is the Norwegian flag and not the Swedish flag. I just wanted a picture of her writing, and this is one of my favorites. She was signing the guestbook at the Norwegian Embassy after the camp shootings last year. I love her in this outfit, and I love to see her writing.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 19, 2012

2012-01-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 19, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 19, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the assistant secretaries from the regional bureaus, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with OMB Director and White House Chief of Staff-designate Jack Lew, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Slideshow: Hillary Clinton with Cultural Ambassador Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and King Abdullah of Jordan

2012-01-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

Dressed in a lovely new fitted jacket with bouffant sleeves, lovely hair freed from restraints, the Secretary of State looked like a tiny doll standing next to her newly named Cultural Ambassador Kareem Abdul Jabbar. (See previous post for the video.) Later, she met with Jordan's King Abdullah who clearly enjoys her company.

Video: Secretary Clinton at the ACE Awards

2012-01-18T16:45:00.001-05:00

Remarks at the 13th Annual Award for Corporate Excellence

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
January 18, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you very much, Under Secretary Hormats. Bob has been a great leader here in the State Department on behalf of our economic activities, advocating for American companies, looking for ways to support American businesses as they grow jobs and create opportunities that benefit the United States as well as others around the world. I also want to thank Debra, who is always the driving force behind getting us organized and ready for the ACE Awards.And I want to thank all of you for joining us here in the Benjamin Franklin Room. You can see Mr. Franklin up there; I think it’s the most appropriate place for us to hold this ceremony since he was such an innovator, such an inspiration, and from the very beginning reminded us that America is about tomorrow, about what kind of future we can make together.
I want to say a special word of greetings to everyone who is joining us remotely from Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Pakistan. So I’m going to wave at you and somehow through cyberspace that will get there. Oh good, it just got there. All right. There’s always a little bit of a delay, but we are so pleased that we can have some of our colleagues from around the world as we honor two companies that have made such a difference in the countries I just mentioned.
We are honoring these two companies because they have had an exceptional impact in giving back to the communities where they do business. They are setting the highest standards for corporate social responsibility. They’re showing the world that it is indeed possible to do well by doing good.
Before I get to the moment when the names are revealed – and the tension is building, I can feel it – I just want to emphasize and maybe add just a few words to Bob’s comments, about the crucial role that American businesses play around the globe representing our country and our values. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, corporations are key actors in international affairs. Now, we are rightly concerned here in the State Department by some of the negative aspects that we have to deal with, whether it’s environmental degradation or labor exploitation or financial speculation, but that is the minority. Unfortunately, it’s often the tail that wags the public dog and gets all of the attention.
What we are focused on here today, and what the companies we are honoring here show, is that when companies act responsibly, they can make vital contributions that benefit everyone, from spurring economic growth to promoting good governance and the rule of law, to providing humanitarian relief after natural disasters.
In fact, for many people around the world, the most direct contact they will ever have with the United States is through American businesses. Through brand names and through small companies, every size, that is doing business abroad, that’s how they learn what we stand for and who we are and what aspirations we share. So this is really important, not just to the bottom line but to our national security, our interests and our values, and the future of our global leadership.
So that’s why here at the State Department we have made it a priority to develop partnerships with the private sector that leverage the vast talents and expertise of American entrepreneurs and businesses. And under Bob’s leadership we are reorganizing our various efforts to work with and advocate for U.S. firms abroad within the Bureau of Economic and Energy and Business Affairs.
Now, the Award for Corporate Excellence represents our continuing commitment to recognize and promote global corporate social responsibility. And this year we are honoring two companies, as we do every year – one large, one small; one a household name, one that we hope will become one – that should make every American proud.
First, Sahlman Seafoods is a business that began with a single fishing boat in Florida during the Great Depression. In the 1990s, the company decided to take a chance on Nicaragua and its emerging democracy. So they built a state-of-the-art shrimp processing plant that met both high U.S. and European standards for product quality, safe working conditions, and environmental protection.
Now, they could have settled for laxer requirements, but that’s not the Sahlman way. They went above and beyond, and that’s what this award is all about. From the start, Sahlman Seafoods demonstrated a commitment to the community. They prioritized hiring local women, sponsored a soup kitchen for children, invested in nearby schools providing scholarships and uniforms. Their environmental record is especially impressive, from a company-wide campaign to reduce water usage to a mangrove reforestation project operated by employee volunteers.
Now, Sahlman Seafoods is a small company, but it’s having a big impact. It’s showing that when American businesses move to a town, quality of life improves and the community gains. So I am delighted to present the 2011 Award for Corporate Excellence to the president of Sahlman Seafoods, Marty Williams. (Applause.)
MR. WILLIAMS: Wow. (Laughter.) Shortly after Under Secretary Hormats called to tell me that we would be receiving this award, I was contacted by Tiffany Enoch in the State Department to begin making arrangements for the ceremony. At one point in the conversation, Tiffany said that their communications and media people could coordinate with our communications and media people. (Laughter.) “But Tiffany,” I said, “We don’t have any communications or media people.” (Laughter.) Sahlman Seafood is truly a small company. Tiffany assured me she would guide us through the process, and she did a wonderful job.
Madam Secretary, Under Secretary Hormats, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely proud and humbled to accept this honor from the State Department on behalf of Sahlman Seafoods, the Sahlman family, and our subsidiary in Nicaragua.
Sahlman Seafoods is a family owned and operated shrimp company that was started in Florida in 1936, making this past year our 75th anniversary. So it is very special and that much more meaningful to receive this recognition at this time. My father-in-law, Jack Sahlman, is the son of the founder and has worked for Sahlman Seafoods for over 60 years. Jack is with us today, and I’d like to recognize him, for we certainly would not be here without his guidance and inspiration. (Applause.)
Jack has always impressed upon me the importance of being a good corporate citizen, and that advice has been the impetus for our employees in Nicaragua to expend time, effort, and energy trying to make a difference in the environment and the communities in which we work. Our employees continually prove that a company can do well and do good at the same time.
Our shrimp farm in Nicaragua is located on an island in a remote area along the northern Pacific coast. In order to protect the ecosystem and enhance the natural flora and fauna, we’ve maintained a rigid program of environmental planning and controls. We diligently protect the native red mangrove population and plant roughly 50,000 seedlings every year. Sahlman Seafoods has worked closely with the Nicaraguan Ministry for Environmental Protection to protect endangered species by creating a census of and monitoring reptiles and several species of migratory birds, and our repopulation program of several shellfish and mollusks has contributed to restoring and improving our water quality.
Sahlman created the first soil and sediment map for the local shrimp industry, which has helped to monitor the health of the local ecosystem. We also strictly adhere to a conservation program of water usage and have implemented a waste management program that allows us to recycle many materials. In an industry that is not often seen as friendly to the environment, we are very proud of operating in a sustainable manner and are constantly reminded that not only can a shrimp farm exist without causing damage to the surrounding area, but can also thrive.
Many people in this area have no electricity or running water and live well below the poverty line. Most have to walk miles along dusty, dirty roads to attend school, church, or visit the local clinic. After having observed the lives of the locals for several months during construction of our farm, we made a commitment to help wherever we could. This effort has been most evident at the Escuela Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, the local elementary school. Since ’96, Sahlman has donated numerous types of infrastructure to the school, including the installation of a well that serves the entire community. More recently, we’ve remodeled the preschool classrooms and provided uniforms to all the students. And to further promote education and environmental awareness, our biologists routinely make presentations to the school and invite the students to participate in activities such as planting mangrove seedlings in the area. We also provide scholarships to elementary school graduates so that they may continue with secondary education that’s not available in the nearby community.
Another project in the area which has received our support is the local health clinic. After rehabilitating the clinic facility, Sahlman recently made possible the installation of electrical power to the building. As you can imagine, this has allowed the medical professionals to provide care on a much higher level.
I’d like to take this opportunity to announce the recent formation of the Sahlman Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit entity through which Sahlman Seafoods of Nicaragua will continue to provide funds, supplies, and time to the local community. We also expect to use the foundation to solicit donations from other companies and outside sources to help with our outreach programs.
Again, thank you, Madam Secretary, for this award and for recognizing our employees in Nicaragua for their outstanding contributions to the local community. We will continue to operate our farm in a sustainable manner and to represent the U.S. through our efforts as a good corporate citizen. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you very much, and I don’t think you needed a media or communications staff at all. (Laughter.) That was very inspiring.
Now, our second honoree is a real household name: Procter & Gamble. You know them for their great products that Americans use every day, but you may not be aware of their tremendous contributions that are helping to save and improve lives around the world. And today, we are highlighting the company’s work in two countries in particular, Nigeria and Pakistan.
In Nigeria, where the company has invested more than $70 million since 1999, Procter & Gamble has purified more than 2.5 million liters of water, built 10 mobile health clinics that provide free medical care, baby care tips, and health education to mothers and their children, and worked with schools to create a health program specifically for girls that reaches more than a million students each year.
And we are very proud of the work in Nigeria, and the company has done similar work in Pakistan. In fact, our ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador Cameron Munter, is here with us today, and he can attest to just how important it is to have iconic U.S. businesses like Procter & Gamble demonstrating America’s commitment to the people of Pakistan. As Under Secretary Hormats said, it was unusual to get the same company nominated from two different continents, because that’s just I think the first time it’s happened in memory. But it says a lot about what Procter & Gamble is doing.
It’s showing in Pakistan that you can partner with both the government and the people for very positive results. They’ve partnered with Pakistani universities to train young business leaders; they’ve built a new plant that wins recognition for energy efficiency and environmental responsibility; they’ve set up a network of schools in Karachi, and they’ve supported orphanages and early childhood education programs.
After massive floods devastated Pakistan in 2010, displacing millions and creating a humanitarian crisis, Procter & Gamble rushed to offer assistance. The company provided 280 million liters of clean drinking water, delivered medicine, hygiene products, and food rations, and even washed clothes for victims of the floods.
Now, I remember the late Richard Holbrooke reporting back from Pakistani refugee camps about the impact this assistance was having. He, as I, was very concerned about the dangers of disease, such as dysentery, which threatened to take even more lives in the wake of the floods. So American diplomats worked side by side with Procter & Gamble specialists to distribute water purification packets and to help displaced Pakistanis use them effectively, even without basic supplies like the standard 10-gallon mixing jug.
Procter & Gamble stepped up when it mattered most, just as they have stepped up every single day in every single place. They have saved lives. They have eased suffering. They have showed the compassionate face of caring Americans. So I am very pleased to present this award to Procter & Gamble’s chairman, president, and CEO, Bob McDonald.
Bob. (Applause.) Thanks, Bob. I think they’re getting two awards here. This is Nigeria and this is Pakistan. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
MR. MCDONALD: Thank you, Madam Secretary. It’s quite an honor to be able to accept the State Department Award for Corporate Excellence on behalf of the employees of the Procter & Gamble Company. I would like to thank Ambassadors Munter, McCulley, and the members of the ACE selection committee for this recognition. I’d also like to thank Under Secretary Hormats, who chaired the committee. I want to thank the P&G teams in Nigeria and Pakistan, led by Manoj Kumar and Faisal Sabzwari, who are each joining us by video conference today.
P&G’s purpose as a company is to touch and improve lives now and for generations to come. Our purpose guides and inspires everything that we do. For 175 years, our purpose has focused us on finding ways to make people’s everyday lives a little better. We improve lives with our brands. We improve lives with our business growth. We improve lives with our employee programs and with our social responsibility efforts. When we improve lives, we grow our business, and by growing our business, we’re able to improve even more lives. It’s a virtuous cycle and entirely congruent with our growth strategy to improve more lives in more parts of the world more completely.
This congruence is evident in our Pakistan and Nigerian operations, for which we are being recognized today. Both countries play a key role in our developing growth strategy. This year, we celebrated our 20^th anniversary in Pakistan. Since 1991, P&G has grown to be among the top fast-moving consumer goods companies in Pakistan. We’ve introduced brands like Pampers diapers, Always feminine protection, Safeguard soap, Head & Shoulders and Pantene shampoos, which are making a difference in the lives of Pakistani consumers every single day.
Through our business growth, we’ve invested in Pakistan with new manufacturing sites and by building a strong local supply base. This has led to the creation of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly, and we’re improving the lives in the community, as Secretary Clinton mentioned, with partnerships to create schools and learning opportunities across Pakistan.
During the floods of 2010, we provided nearly 350 million liters of clean drinking water, in partnership with the United States Government through the use of P&G’s purifier of water sachets. Importantly, Pakistan is the global production hub for these lifesaving little blue packets. By transforming contaminated water into clean drinking water, these packets save lives in Pakistan and all over the world.
In Nigeria, where we’ve also been in business for 20 years, our P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program is an important part of our business as well. Today, we’ve provided over 44 million liters of clean drinking water. Our Pampers brand runs mobile clinics and hospital programs that deliver healthcare support for mothers and their babies. The mobile clinics often represent the first time either a Nigerian mother or child has seen a true health professional. This program reaches over a million and a half mothers and babies. And our Always Care Program helps keeps girls in school by providing feminine hygiene education. The program reaches over 700,000 girls every single year. This is important because, as we all know, education leads to greater opportunities and greater economic potential. Our strong Nigerian manufacturing operations allow us to bring more of our categories and products to Nigerian consumers. In fact, our business in Nigeria has tripled over the last five years.
As you can see from these examples of the outstanding work that the men and women of Procter & Gamble are doing in Nigeria and Pakistan, it is our fundamental belief that businesses can do good and do well. Everyone at P&G is proud of our contributions to make everyday life better, and we are honored by this recognition. We remain committed to touching and improving lives now and for generations to come.
Again, I would like to thank Secretary Clinton, Under Secretary Hormats, Assistant Secretaries Fernandez and Carson, Deputy Assistant Secretary McCarthy, Ambassadors Munter and McCulley, and the entire State Department. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think we’ve seen two excellent presentations by two world class American companies, and I think it just reinforces, certainly, my conviction that the American team – and by that I mean all of us, the public sector, the private sector, young, old, and in the middle and every other aspect of who we are as Americans – have what it takes to really lead the world to a better place in the 21^st century. I certainly don’t underestimate the challenges. I look out and see some of my colleagues who are working in some of the most difficult situations in the world today. But I have every reason to believe that we are all on the same journey to try to make the world a better place when we leave than when we found it, and that is certainly true for these two American businesses. Thank you all very much.
Bob. (Applause.)
UNDER SECRETARY HORMATS: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary, for graciously hosting us today, and welcome back from a very long trip. We especially appreciate your taking the time this morning after your very long voyage to West Africa to participate in this event.
This event, again, as I mentioned earlier, underlines the personal commitment by Secretary Clinton and her team in the State Department and in all of our embassies and consulates around the world to work closely with U.S. business on our common goals of enhancing growth and opportunity and human development, both here and abroad. The two companies we are honoring today are outstanding examples of American firms whose perspective and commitment has greatly enhanced the quality of life and opportunities for many, and we salute your contributions. This is certainly an impressive display of moral commitment, of commitment to social – corporate social responsibility, and to the people who work for you and work with you and work around you in all parts of the world. Because the human capital and the outreach to humanity in these countries is really, perhaps, in many cases, the greatest legacy of your businesses. Not only does it enhance profits, but it also enhances your reputation and improves the lives of generation after generation of people in the countries in which you work.
Now we enter what we call the interactive portion of this ceremony. This is where the new technologies that we have here at the State Department are called upon to link us around the world. And I’m very pleased to welcome our distinguished colleagues around the world, the companies that have engaged in the kinds of practices that we’ve heard described today, and guests who’ve been celebrating around the world via satellite.
So we’d like to start with Sahlman. First, our Charge d'Affaires Robert Downes and Jaime Garcia, processing plant manager for Sahlman Seafoods in Nigeria – in Nicaragua. And so I’d like to turn it over to both of you to make a few statements and then we will proceed with the next portion of our discussion.
So Charge Downes, this is your opportunity to chip in, and then Jaime Garcia will follow you. The floor is yours. We’re all listening and watching.
MR. DOWNES: Thank you, Mr. Under Secretary, President Williams, honored guests and distinguished colleagues. I thank you for the opportunity to be here today to recognize the corporate social responsibility demonstrated by Sahlman Seafoods in Nicaragua. Many accuse capitalism of being, in the words of American sociologist Daniel Bell, a system where man exploits man. It is my great pleasure today to introduce an executive from a company that, like many American companies in Nicaragua and around the world, gives lie to that statement. Sahlman Seafoods is a company that has taken on the work of environmental stewardship, educational support, and healthcare – not for financial gain or recognition, but it understands that good civic practices are also good business practices.
Sahlman Seafoods’ many and varied programs show the breadth of its commitment to civic responsibility in Nicaragua and, with its creation of the Sahlman Foundation, shows its corporate dedication to creating a better future for its employees and for the communities in which it does business. The Award for Corporate Excellence only underscores the work that Sahlman Seafoods has done for so many years. Sahlman, like many other U.S. companies in Nicaragua, demonstrates through its programs the importance of corporate social responsibility.
(In Spanish.) (Applause.)
It gives me great pleasure now to invite Jaime Garcia, Sahlman Seafoods’ processing plant manager, to say a few words.
MR. GARCIA: Thank you. It is a great honor…
(more)
MR. GARCIA: Thank you. It is a great honor to accept this award on behalf of Sahlman Seafood employees and community. I thank our local partners, MARENA, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and MAGFOR, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, who have been advocate our programs, as well as our own Gabriel Davila, coordinator of Sahlman Seafood Environmental Unit, whose vision and passion has led us along this fulfilling path.
I will also like to thank the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua for nominating our company, supporting our effort, and believing in our vision. We will continue our effort to deliver acceptable healthcare to the community in El Congo through better infrastructure and equipment and guarantee a brighter future for the children of Buena Vista. The preservation of the wetland in the largest red mangrove extension in the country will continue being part of Sahlman Seafood culture. Without it, our operation will not flourish.
We hope our commitment to the community, the environment, and our people will become the legacy of Sahlman Seafood, and we are confident that there is much more progress to be made. Thank you again for recognizing our effort as we strive to become better corporate citizens. Thank you. (Applause.)
UNDER SECRETARY HORMATS: Well, thank you very much. Let me just add, first of all, that the commitment that both of you have made and the ongoing efforts you’re making are truly impressive. And I also want to say that when Marty and I first talked about this, I was deeply moved not only by what you’re doing in Nicaragua and the enormous commitment and the enormous results from that commitment; I also thought that the story of the founding of the company was exceedingly moving, from one little ship, one little boat, to the company that you and your family have started and built.
And this is really a great American story, and so it was very moving to me. I told everyone else that really made my day to hear about this, because this is what America is all about. And if we cannot support and encourage our small businesses – some started with one little boat or in the basement of a house or in a small lab – our future is not as dynamic as it ought to be. And the kind of commitment you have made as a family to the values, to the company, to the people around you, is really a truly moving American story. So I just want to congratulate the company and the family.
And I also want to add a particular note for Alice, since she – I went to Tufts. She is a Tufts Jumbo, so I wanted a special shout-out to Alice and to Tufts University. (Laughter.) So why don’t you stand up, Alice, for a second? (Applause.) I couldn’t resist that.
Anyway, thank you all very much, and Marty, for your leadership – very impressive. And as I say, I talked to everyone that day about the conversation we had and what a moving story it was.
Now we turn to P&G, which is a well-known household name but also started as a small company years ago. I think we tend to forget that very big companies often started out as very small companies as well. It’s part of the American story that small companies can become big companies with global reputations. And I think that that is certainly true with Procter & Gamble.
Let me just now turn over the floor to our colleagues and our representatives of P&G in Nigeria. Consul General Joseph Stafford and Kumar – Manoj Kumar, who is the general manager of Procter & Gamble in West Africa, are both with us, and the floor is yours. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this award and the kind of work that Procter & Gamble is doing in Nigeria.
So please proceed.
MR. STAFFORD: Thank you, sir. On behalf of Ambassador McCulley and our Embassy in Abuja, I extend heartiest congratulations to Procter & Gamble, which is celebrating its 20 years in Nigeria and its commitment to socially responsible investment. I can’t think of a company more deserving of this prestigious award. Procter & Gamble has consistently demonstrated its commitment to not only provide a safe and healthy working environment for its employees, but also to strive for a better future for many young Nigerians.
In the last year alone, Procter & Gamble’s corporate social responsibility programs improved the lives of over 2.2 million Nigerian children. In cooperation with its implementing partners, Procter & Gamble has supported the health and well-being of new and expectant mothers through mobile clinics, partnered with local schools to provide innovative educational programs for teenage girls, and provided sustainable access to safe drinking water in rural and semi-urban communities through the use of water purifiers. Procter & Gamble has shown the positive impact an American company can have both in promoting growth and development and in representing the United States abroad as a corporate -- good corporate citizen.
Manoj, congratulations and over to you.
MR. KUMAR: It is a great honor to be a joint recipient of the State Department Award for Corporate Excellence. On behalf of the employees of Procter & Gamble Nigeria, I would like to thank Secretary Clinton, Under Secretary Hormats, Ambassador McCulley, representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, and members of the ACE selection committee for the recognition of our work in Nigeria.
We are very humbled by this award, especially the fact that it is focused on improving lives. This is the core of our purpose as a company and this is what leads everything we do in Nigeria. For 20 years, P&G brands continue to improve everyday life in small but meaningful ways, and many have become leading household names in Nigeria. Our business in Nigeria has tripled over the past five years, and we are expanding across Africa with Nigeria as our business hub for the entire West and Central Africa region.
These awards belong not only to us. We are very fortunate to work with strong partners who share our vision of touching and improving lives. P&G Nigeria is pleased today to highlight and celebrate our distributors, our agencies, our suppliers, and our nonprofit partners such as UNICEF, Sponsor a Child, Society for Family Health, and Adolescent Health and Information Projects. These organizations have implemented and are indeed still delivering truly excellent work that bring P&G’s purpose to life every day in Nigeria.
Together, we are providing much-needed hygiene products across Nigeria to people in remote areas who previously had no access to these products. Together, we have created over 200 new successful entrepreneurs with sustained training and marketing support in rural and semi-urban areas over the past five years. Together, we have provided over 30 billion liters of safe drinking water in Nigeria. Together still, we have provided over 7.5 million tetanus vaccines to mothers and their babies in Nigeria. And together, we are touching the lives of over 2 million children in Nigeria every year through our Always Care Hygiene Puberty Education Program for Girls, our Pampers Baby Care Hospital Program, our mobile clinics, and our Building Future Orphanage Programs.
Let me use this opportunity to again thank Ambassador McCulley, Consul General Mr. Joseph Stafford, and their teams in Nigeria, specifically the Economic Counselor Mr. Perry Ball for all the support to P&G working with the Nigerian Government to create a conducive business environment, the Commercial Counselor Miss Rebecca Armand, and Economic Officer Mr. Robert Folley, for staying so close to us. Without a successful business in Nigeria, none of this would have been possible.
This work is all about improving lives. Thank you once again for this recognition. (Applause.)
MR. STAFFORD: Thank you very much, Manoj. Mr. Under Secretary, back to you, sir.
UNDER SECRETARY HORMATS: Thank you very much, Consul General Stafford and Mr. Kumar. And I very much appreciate your mentioning, Mr. Kumar, the excellent work that our economic team is doing. We have a large economic team around the world. We work with commercial attaches from the Commerce Department and other agencies, of course with our ambassadors and our consuls and consulate generals all around the world.
So this is really, as you’ve correctly pointed out, a team effort on the U.S. Government side, with a very strong team effort on the side of the companies that are actively engaged in doing the excellent work that you have described. This is truly a lifesaving work for many people – improving the water supply, providing clean drinking water, giving access to health and medical services to women and children, providing hygiene products, all of which support Procter & Gamble’s commitment to health. So I thank you very, very much for that and for your company’s good work.
Now I’d like to turn it over to the second area in which P&G has won an award, and that is in Pakistan. I’d like to introduce our teams participating in Karachi, Consul General William Martin and Faisal Sabzwari. This is a team that has been working together to achieve common ends, so I would now like to first of all recognize you. We also have the honor of having the American Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter here in Washington in our audience today. And Ambassador Munter, the floor is yours to talk about P&G’s efforts in Pakistan and to conduct the Pakistani portion of this process. So welcome. (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR MUNTER: So, Under Secretary Hormats, to all of our distinguished guests, thank you for this opportunity. And for me here in Washington to be looking out at these fabulous achievers, my friends Bill Martin, my friend Faisal Sabzwari, who have been such an incredible force in Karachi, a city approaching 20 million people, where the needs are so great and where we in Islamabad seek the guidance from their efforts to make sure that the American-Pakistani partnership is strong and that the values that we so value, that we so want to stand for, are respected.
I’ll leave it to you, Bill, I’ll leave it to you, Faisal, to talk about the details of what you’ve achieved, but just that in my experience visiting the plant at Port Qasim, seeing the people who have worked with you, the people who you’ve prepared for the modern role that they have to play to bring a decent business climate, to bring health to Pakistan, to see the corporate citizenship that you’ve exercised, especially, as the Secretary mentioned, during the floods of 2010 when, as far as I can tell, 280 million liters of clean drinking water were delivered to 1.5 million people, where hygiene products were given to 2 million victims, and medicine to 90,000 mothers and infants, and also that you built a plant that has a model of responsible stewardship and practices in the environment, winning Pakistan’s Environmental Excellence Award at Port Qasim.
And what you were able to do was to implement upgrades in the older manufacturing facilities that reduced energy, carbon dioxide, and water footprint by 30 percent; the fact that you grow and develop the local economy in Pakistan and work with the NGOs of 60 informal schools; that you worked in the wake of the 2005 earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir to build earthquake-compliant schools; to go to those SOS Children’s Villages, which we have visited Bill – you and I – to see the orphans and how this corporation, in the name of what America stands for, is able to demonstrate our commitment; and also to build ties with developing young business leaders. The lists go on and on – the work you’ve done with interns. And so I just want to thank you there in the field. I want to thank you, Mr. McDonald, and those of you who engender this kind of attitude towards business who serve as our partners.
And in those countries like Pakistan, where we seek to have a true partnership in a country like Pakistan where we are looked upon, even if sometimes critically, as those people who should live by the highest of standards, it’s you who are the people who are doing this on the ground, showing to the public in Pakistan, and indeed to the public in America, how it can be done.
So in awe of your work, I’d like to turn it over to you, Bill Martin, our Consul General in Karachi, and to you Faisal Sabzwari, the P&G country manager, for your comments. Thank you. (Applause.)
MR. MARTIN: Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. It is a great privilege to be here to introduce Procter & Gamble’s Pakistan country manager, Faisal Sabzwari. My first contact with Procter & Gamble Pakistan was just a week after I arrived in Karachi at the onset of the catastrophic floods of 2010. I repeatedly witnessed firsthand destitute men, women, and children receiving the benefits of Procter & Gamble Pakistan’s generosity and compassion. Procter & Gamble Pakistan’s response was not a result of prodding, but clearly a result of their organic corporate ethos.
But more lasting, more profound, is Procter & Gamble Pakistan’s policy of empowerment of women in the workplace here in Pakistan. Procter & Gamble is a role model for Pakistani industry in providing opportunity, training, and upward mobility to women. Every time I visit a Procter & Gamble office or plant, it is clear that their employees, particularly the women, are imbued with an enthusiasm that comes from Procter & Gamble’s attitudes and labor management practices. Procter & Gamble Pakistan’s proactive policy to raise women’s status is paying dividends not only to the company, but more importantly, to the country.
It is an honor to introduce my good friend, Procter & Gamble’s country manager, Faisal Sabzwari. Faisal, congratulations.
MR. SABZWARI: Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Let me express my deep honor and pleasure at being here to accept this unique distinction. Madam Secretary, Under Secretary Hormats, Ambassador Munter, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Mr. Feldman, representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, and to the members of the ACE selection committee, I am greatly honored and thankful on behalf of all of us at P&G Pakistan to accept this unique honor.
Pakistan is a country with tremendous potential. And for P&G, Pakistan is a country that offers us tremendous opportunity to fulfill our purpose. At P&G Pakistan, we are inspired by a simple and powerful idea: that touching and improving lives is fundamental to growing our business. We started on this journey 20 years ago in Pakistan, and consumers have rewarded us by making brands like Always, Pampers, market leaders.
In the last 10 years, our business has grown fivefold. Our purpose inspires us in the way that we reach consumers. It has inspired us to partner with the Society of Gynecologists in Pakistan, to have 6 million conversations with school girls as they reach adulthood so that they can stay in school and realize their full potential.
It has inspired us to take doctors from the Pakistan Medical Association to neighborhoods with the Pampers Mobile Clinic that has had 5 million consultations, one-on-one, with mothers so that they can get the health and hygiene education for themselves and their babies which are otherwise not accessible to them.
And our purpose has inspired us to partner again with the Pakistan Medical Association for our Safeguard School Education Program. We know that hand washing with soap can prevent the top two syndromes that cause child mortality globally. What could be more important than our program that takes doctors to schools and educates children on health and hygiene? I am proud to report that this Safeguard School program represents the largest private sector education program in the country.
Our purpose also inspires everything that we do. The way we go to universities and have been recruiting interns, allowing them and giving them opportunity to learn, to excel, and gain employment. I was recruited by this program 15 years ago, and I am proud to report that today P&G is the number one preferred place to work in top Pakistani universities. Our Live, Learn, and Thrive corporate social responsibility program has touched 21 million to date.
You mentioned the 60 neighborhood schools that we sponsor, in addition to building three seismic-compliant schools in earthquake-affected areas. In every natural calamity that has afflicted Pakistanis, P&G has been there to provide the assistance and help that we need when we have needed it most. I’ll also mention that the Port Qasim facility that Ambassador Munter inaugurated recently has won the National Environmental Excellence Award for Best Practices and Sustainability.
To close, I would like to thank again Madam Secretary, Under Secretary Hormats, Ambassador Munter, Bill. And I would like to acknowledge the unwavering support that we have received from the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, particularly from Ambassador Munter and Consul General Martin. We are very grateful for your support.
I would like to thank again the ACE award committee for giving us this award. Receiving it inspires us to continue on our journey to touch and improve lives in Pakistan today and for generations to come. Thank you.
MR. MARTIN: Thank you very much. (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR MUNTER: Thank you, Bill, thank you, Faisal, and thank you and your teams for what you’ve achieved in the field. Thank you to all of the people in Procter & Gamble around the world, but especially in Pakistan, for what you’re doing at a time when we’re defining our relationship and our partnership, and you are acting it out in the way that we’re most proud to take part with. So thank you very much, thank all of you for being here. And once again, I’d like to ask Under Secretary Hormats if he can come back to the microphone. Thank you. (Applause.)
UNDER SECRETARY HORMATS: Well, thank you very much, Ambassador Munter, Consul General Stafford, Mr. Sabzwari. We applaud Procter & Gamble’s remarkable efforts in Pakistan – your innovative mobile clinics, your commitment to humanitarian assistance, and your partnerships to provide education and build schools. Just your very simple point about teaching children to wash their hands and how that can save many lives and improve people’s health – those things have an impact on those children not just when they’re children but throughout their whole lives, their children’s children, and really have among the many, many things you do created a very remarkable legacy in Pakistan. And we very much applaud this.
I also want to again applaud Bob McDonald’s leadership. His corporate leadership of P&G has been remarkable over the years, and your vision, your sense of public commitment, your sense of social commitment has just been inspirational to people not only in P&G but in the corporate community in general. So a particular thanks to you and to your colleagues around the world who are participating in the P&G family and upholding this wonderful tradition of social responsibility and dealing with these humanitarian issues that countries from time to time face. And when they do, they need the kind of help that P&G gives.
So this brings us to the conclusion of our ceremony today. This is an honor for me, I know it was an honor for Secretary Clinton to participate, because it shows the very best of America. It shows the very best of what our companies and our people can do around the world. And at a time where there’s competition from all countries and all products and all parts of the world, we bring to the world not only excellent products, products that you produce and sell in various parts of the world, and Sahlman Seafoods has just been exemplary in the quality of your products and the quality of the business that you do and the moral leadership that you’ve provided; at P&G, the same thing.
So it’s about the quality of products and the quality of participation. But American companies bring more than that, and that is they bring heart, they bring social responsibility, they bring corporate responsibility. And this is something that all Americans can be very, very proud of. The people, the companies of the United States, represent us in remarkable ways, in ways that create a legacy for them and their products, but also enhance the reputation of the United States, the esteem in which our country is held.
You are very much our ambassadors around the world. We only have a certain number of people in the Foreign Service – the Foreign Commercial Service. We have far more people in the corporate sector around the world, and they’re the people who most citizens of Nicaragua or Pakistan or Nigeria see on a regular basis. They don’t see the people; they see the products. So this really represents a very important aspect of America’s values around the world and who we are as a people, what we stand for as a people, the values we stand for as a people.
So I commend all of you who have won these awards as demonstrating the very best of our country, and I think you all should feel very proud of what you have done, of the reputations you have developed in the countries in which you have been operating and elsewhere. And this is just a small token of your country’s gratitude to you. There are many, many more people around the world who feel the same degree of gratitude. I know the Secretary and I personally feel this, so thank you very much. You have moved us all and you have done remarkable things, and I’m sure you will continue to do so. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Video: Hillary Clinton with Kareem Abdul Jabbar

2012-01-18T15:08:00.000-05:00

Remarks With Cultural Ambassador Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 18, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Hello. Welcome to the State Department. I am thrilled about this.MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, I’m very happy to be doing it.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Well, there’s a lot – as you can tell, there’s a lot of people interested. If you don’t mind (inaudible) for me, and we’ll just take a step over here, and maybe I could say a few words of appreciation and excitement about this.
We, from time to time, ask distinguished Americans to take on an additional responsibility in the midst of their very busy lives as a cultural ambassador for our country. And we’re thrilled that you have agreed to do this. I know you’ll be going to Brazil later, I think, in the month, and what a great opportunity to meet with and talk to young people. And since most of the world is now young – (laughter) – I think it’s especially timely. But I’m just very grateful to you for taking the time.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Thank you very much. I really appreciate the opportunity, since I think it’s something – I remember when Louis Armstrong first did it back for President Kennedy, one of my heroes. So it’s nice to be following in his footsteps.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s a great story that you not only tell but exemplify, from the streets of Harlem to the NBA, and now all the work you’re doing with your foundation to give back, which we also think is terrific.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Thanks. Thank you. It’s been a long ride.
SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) Well, what do we have there?
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: We have a gift for you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, wow.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Yeah.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m not going to be able to keep that away from my husband, you know. (Laughter.)
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Do the best you can.
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s terrific.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: There you go.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: This is a copy of my latest book.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, I’ve heard about that. Thank you.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: For when you start to read to your grandchildren.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let us hope. From your lips to God’s ears, right? (Laughter.)
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: I hope that Chelsea doesn’t mind me putting that pressure on her.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah, well, I won’t say a word. And I’m sure my friends won’t either. (Laughter.)
This is terrific, and what a long overdue story about all of these people who made such a contribution. You go through and you look at what they created, invented, gave to the world. It’s a good memory.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Yeah. It’s a – for me, doing was important because of the textbooks I remember when I was a kid. The only time that black Americans were mentioned, having to do with the issues of slavery or for civil rights, and there’s so much more to the story.
SECRETARY CLINTON: There sure is. Well, and that’s one of the great accomplishments of our country. It may have taken us a while but we keep opening those doors for African Americans, for women, for all kinds of people who get written into history finally after all these years.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Someone had to do it.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Someone had to do it.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: That’s right.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you, sir.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you for everything.
MR. ABDUL-JABBAR: It’s all my pleasure.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all. Take care now.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 18, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 18, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

10:50 a.m. Secretary Clinton presents the 13^th Annual Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE), at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS)

11:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Cultural Ambassador Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at the Department of State. As a Cultural Ambassador, Abdul-Jabbar will lead conversations with young people on the importance of education, social and racial tolerance, cultural understanding, and using sports as a means of empowerment.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton speaks with outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, at the Department of State.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

2:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to China Gary Locke, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

Hillary Clinton at the Youth and Community Leaders Reconciliation Roundtable Abidjan

2012-01-17T22:26:00.000-05:00

: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks out of the Center for Research and Action for Peace with Rev. Hyacinthe (L) and Quentin Kanyatsi (R) in Abidjan, January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Remarks at the Youth and Community Leaders Reconciliation Roundtable

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Center for Research and Action for Peace
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
January 17, 2012

First, let me say how honored I am to be here with all of you who are seeking reconciliation and finding common ground. I want to thank Mr. Kanyatsi and your colleagues at Search for Common Ground and Father Loua and everyone here at CERAP. We know how hard it is to overcome differences and to work toward reconciliation. I want to thank you for sharing your stories with us today, and I want to thank those who were in the small play for so strongly illustrating what you are trying to do.
I am grateful we have two religious leaders here today who recognize the importance of inclusive dialogue. Your work makes me optimistic that your country, Cote d'Ivoire, and all Ivoirians can overcome the differences that have, for too long, hurt the progress of your nation. Our political or ethnic or religious differences are not as important as our common humanity. President Obama and I are very proud to support the work that is being done here. The United States has worked with many countries to overcome conflict and war. We know everyone has a role to play in deciding whether the future will be peaceful or not. Whether you are a president of a country, a minister or imam, a young man or a young woman, each person can decide whether to go on hating or to begin living together and working together.
So we are here today to applaud your work but to also recognize with you there is much more to be done. In the United States, we have people from every nation, every ethnicity, every religion in the world living and working together. It’s always a little surprising when people come to my country from their own country, where they did not get along with each other, and then they find themselves looking for someone from their country to share food, to share language, to share memories together. So it is our hope and our prayer that the work that is being done here will help build a new, strong, peaceful, prosperous Cote d'Ivoire for the young men and women and for all the children to come.
There is no more important work for Ivoirians or for any people anywhere in the world to find reconciliation. And the United States will remain your partner and your friend. We want to look to Cote d'Ivoire in the future as an example of how people can work together and how the differences are what make you more interesting, not put you apart and against each other.
So let me thank you for sharing your work with me and my colleagues, and we wish you a very bright and wonderful future for you individually and for this blessed country. Thank you.

Slideshow: Hillary Clinton Visits Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, and Cape Verde All in One Day!

2012-01-17T20:16:00.000-05:00

Following the inauguration, yesterday, of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, Secretary Clinton flew to the Ivory Coast. Amazingly, she visited three countries today before departing for Washington. She spent a good deal of time with President Ouattara of the Ivory Coast, then she flew to Togo where she was greeted by dancers outside the palace where she conferred with President Gnassingbe. Finally, she touched down in Cape Verde where she stopped by to see Prime Minister Pereira Neves. Whew! This was a true whirlwind tour.
Safe home, Mme. Secretary. See you tomorrow at the Awards for Corporate Excellence (to be livestreamed - follow the link).

Secretary Clinton with With President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d'Ivoire

2012-01-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

Remarks With President Alassane Ouattara After Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
January 17, 2012

PRESIDENT OUATTARA: (Via interpreter) Madam Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, first of all, on behalf of the Government and the people of Cote d’Ivoire, and also on my own behalf and on behalf of Mrs. Ouattara, which – who admires the Secretary of State, who would like and to wish you a warm welcome, like we say in Cote d’Ivoire, “Akwaaba.”We’re very happy to welcome you here in Cote d’Ivoire, more than 20 years after the visit of the high-ranking authority, Mr. George Shultz, who was Secretary of State. He came to Abidjan in January 1987. I would like to take the opportunity of her presence here to ask you to send our sincere acknowledgments to President Barack Obama for his personal commitments and his support during the grave post-electoral crisis which took place in our country.
And the same location, I also would like, Madam Secretary of State, to thank you for the efforts that your country have made for the promotion and the reinforcement of the democratic process in Cote d’Ivoire, in Africa, and in the world. I would like to take a few minutes to remind you that we have the will to give to our country credible and strong institutions. President Obama had said strong institutions is what our countries need. We have had our legislative elections on December 11^th, and the constitutional council is examining requests. We hope that this will end in the following days to enable us to have the elections where necessary. So this is a token of the vitality of democracy in our country. I would like also to tell him that we have the firm will to build a rule of law with impartial justice and, of course, respectful of human rights.
Madam Secretary of State, as you probably know, important efforts have been made to consolidate peace and bring back security in our country. It hasn’t been easy. The armed forces are being restructured in order to give to our country a republican army. We’re also reinforcing our military relations and security relations in order to fight against cross-border crime, maritime piracy, drug tracking, proliferation of arms, and terrorism. We hope that we’ll be able to reinforce the cooperation – the military cooperation – with the United States.
Madam Secretary of State, we had a very interesting meeting a few minutes ago on issues of economic cooperation and social and international cooperation. We, of course, ask for the support of the United States concerning our demand before the IMF and the World Bank in order to reach – to have our initiative HIPC. This will enable Cote d’Ivoire to renew sustainably with growth and also to reduce poverty, because the level of poverty, unfortunately, in our country reaches 50 percent of the population. In this regard, we are asking for first (inaudible) of (inaudible).
Madam Secretary of State, since you will chair over the MCC meeting while respecting the rules and procedures to support us so that we can, as soon as this year, have the MCC to enable us to have the necessary financial support as far as this facility is concerned.
We also talked about the cocoa sector – cocoa culture. The reform of the sector is about to end, and I’ve given you the information, according to which I’ve signed the decrees necessary for the organization of the new structure, which is called the Council of Cocoa and Coffee. The members of the board and the director general of the structure will be appointed this week, and we will do our utmost so that everything that is expected by the reform should be established immediately as possible before the end of this month.
I would like to reaffirm our commitment to fight against the worst forms of children labor. Efforts have been made by the Ivoirian Government, decrees have been taken to put into place an inter-ministerial council chaired over by the minister of work and solidarity. But mostly, we have established a monitoring council so that we can be sure that all the things that have been promised will be implemented. And the first lady, which have been helping children for a while now, particularly from poor families, have decided to be personally involved in this issue. So Mrs. Dominique Ouatarra will chair over this monitoring committee. So this is to show the interest and the attention that we’ll bring to this issue to fight against the use of children in the cocoa sector.
Madam Secretary of State, I will continue on different issues that we’ve raised. There were numerous, but we have a total converging views as far as diplomatic international issues are concerned on the African continent and in the world. We consider that peace is necessary for Cote d’Ivoire, for the African continent, and the world. And we want to show our admiration for the work which has been done by the United States of America with yourself and under the authority of President Obama for a better world, a world of peace for each of the inhabitants of this planet.
So I would like to conclude by saying that today Cote d’Ivoire is in peace. We still have major challenges to face, but we count on the reinforcement of the cooperation between our two countries. Thank you for honoring us with your visit. And Madam Secretary of State, once again I would like to show my admiration. Thank you Mrs. Secretary of State. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Mr. President, for the warm welcome extended to me and to my delegation from yourself and the ministers in your government. I am delighted to be here in Cote d’Ivoire at such a historic moment in this nation’s history. I wish to express our admiration for the progress that your country is making – a steady and hopeful return to peace and security, reconciliation among all the people of the nation, as well as economic and social development. I am inspired by how quickly not only the government but the people have moved from the violence and conflict of last spring to successful legislative elections in December and to a commitment that is in the air to build a better future for all Ivoirians and particularly for the next generation.
This is an exciting time for Cote d’Ivoire as it is for West Africa as a whole. We have seen successful elections in Nigeria, the restoration of a civilian government in Niger, the establishment of the first elected government in Guinea. And yesterday I had the privilege of representing my country, as did President Ouattara, at the inauguration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her second term after another free and fair election. Securing these gains for democracy, prosperity, peace, and security for the people here as well as for your neighbors will take consistent hard work. And that is why I’m very pleased that Cote d’Ivoire is once again demonstrating leadership not only at home, but in the region. I thank the president for traveling to 10 of the 15 ECOWAS countries during his early months in office because West Africa has so much potential, and Cote d’Ivoire has to be at the center of realizing that potential.
Twenty-five years ago when my predecessor, former Secretary of State George Schultz visited, Cote d’Ivoire was the engine of economic growth in West Africa. We have no doubt, President Obama and myself, that Cote d’Ivoire can once again be the engine of economic growth for Ivoirians, but also for the region. In order to accomplish that, it’s important to continue the democratic process that you have embarked upon to include all voices, even dissenting ones, in political dialogue, because democracy requires not just elections, but strong institutions, an independent, impartial judiciary, a free press as represented by these ladies and gentlemen here today. And the United States is supporting Cote d’Ivoire’s efforts to build these institutions, to foster national reconciliation, to support a vibrant civil society, to ensure the full participation of all people no matter where they live or what their background and to include women in building a strong and vibrant future.
We discussed a broad range of issues today in our meetings, and the United States stands ready to support the agenda that the president has set forth. People need good jobs, particularly young people. Families need good schools to send their children to attend, everyone needs good healthcare, and I am very hopeful that the president’s agenda will help revitalize this dynamic, very important country at a time when we all need to do more to set a positive vision for the future.
But Mr. President, let me repeat again what you heard from President Obama and myself when you were in Washington for the visit in the White House. The United States stands ready to be a partner and a friend to your country and to your people and to provide assistance and support as appropriate to help you achieve the goals that you have set forth for the future. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, sir.
MODERATOR: (In French.)
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) How do you judge the level of security in this country? Is the United States ready to support Cote d’Ivoire for lifting the arm embargo to enable this country to better equip its security forces? At the economic level, what are the results of your visit to Cote d’Ivoire? Will Cote d’Ivoire benefit from the support of Cote d’Ivoire to reach – to have the HIPC initiative, and also to participate in the MCC? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, every question you raised are ones that we discussed starting earlier this morning with the foreign minister, continuing with two meetings with the president and the cabinet. So let me take them in order.
First, the United States stands ready to assist in the security reform efforts that the president and the prime minister and the cabinet are undertaking. We know that there is a lot of work to be done to demilitarize, demobilize, and reintegrate those who were in militias and those who have an unfortunate history of even being child soldiers. So we are going to work with the president as Cote d’Ivoire sets forth its vision for what kind of army you want, what kind of police force you want, how to bring security to every part of the country, including the west, how to protect against any cross-border criminal activity from drug traffickers and others. So we are already assisting, but we look forward to assisting in even more ways as your government sets forth its vision for security reform.
Similarly with economic reform, we strongly support the steps that the president has already taken. President Obama moved quickly to reinstate Cote d’Ivoire into the African Growth and Opportunities Act, and we look forward to welcoming a delegation from Cote d’Ivoire to the United States for the AGOA meeting later this year. We want to work to support the kind of projects that the president and the cabinet have set forth on economic development and reconstruction. We strongly support the reforms that are being undertaken with respect to cocoa. And we look forward to the IMF providing HIPC status as soon as possible.
Similarly, regarding the MCC, the indicators for eligibility are very strict, but I have told the president and his colleagues that we will certainly work with the government toward meeting those indicators. It would be no surprise that it will take some time after the problems of the last 10 years and particularly the conflict of last year. But we are encouraged by the progress we already see taking place in Cote d’Ivoire, and we want to encourage more progress. So we will do what we can to support that.
MODERATOR: (In French.)
QUESTION: Mr. President, Madam Secretary, Brad Klapper from Associated Press. For both of you, beyond the promises of accountability, how important is it that people see justice meted out in Ivory Coast among not just the vanquished but the victors for crimes committed during last year’s conflict? Is there a timeline for action?
And Madam Secretary, if I could, could I just ask you about Yemen as well? There are reports the election may be postponed and that al-Qaida has overrun a city south of Yemen, south of Sana’a. But what is the U.S. doing to help stabilize the country politically and security-wise?
PRESIDENT OUATTARA: (Via interpreter) The question of justice is concern for all. I would like to reaffirm our will to continue for justice to be equitable and that all those that have committed crimes should be treated equally without – with no discrimination. I have told the Secretary of State that we have put into place a national investigation commission, which is doing an important work in the west of the country, as well as in the city of Abidjan, concerning all the crimes that have been committed during the post-electoral crisis.
So we’re waiting with a great deal of patience the report of this commission, and the conclusions will be, of course, examined, adopted, and transferred to justice so that those that should be judged would be judged. And Cote d’Ivoire wants to be a country which respects the rule of law, so there’s no doubt about this. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: And we commend the Ivoirian Government for the steps they are taking to hold those who perpetrated human rights abuses accountable. We think that all Ivoirians need to see that the rule of law is working and that there is impartial justice, a transparent system to ensure that all atrocities are fully investigated, and that the perpetrators, regardless of which side they supported, are held to account. In this past year, we’ve committed about $44 million to help the country strengthen – excuse me – strengthen its justice sector and democratic governance, and we will continue to provide such support.
With respect to Yemen, as you are well aware, the instability in Yemen is of great concern, first and foremost, to the Yemeni people, but to the region and to the world. It remains a great challenge. There has been agreements with respect to the way forward that have not been fulfilled. We regret that the president has thus far failed to comply with his own commitments to leave the country and to permit elections to go forward, that could give the people a chance to be heard and be represented. We remain focused on the threat posed by al-Qaida in Yemen, and we continue to work with our partners there and elsewhere to ensure that al-Qaida does not gain a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula through actions that would undermine the stability of Yemen and the region.
MODERATOR: (In French.)
QUESTION: Hi. (Inaudible) from (inaudible) News. And Ivory Coast is on the road of recovery. IMF and World Bank are expecting the economy of the Ivory Coast role in (inaudible). I would like to know how the U.S. (inaudible) going to be part of this economic recovery. Are there already some American businesses (inaudible) in Ivory Coast (inaudible)?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Mr. President, this is a question you asked me and all of your colleagues asked me, and I am delighted that it is a matter of interest to the media, because we very much want to send a clear message to American businesses that Cote d’Ivoire is open for business, that there are investment opportunities, there are people looking for work who are ready to go to work, there are many ways that American businesses can invest with, trade with, and create opportunities right here. So I’ve discussed with the government how we can help open the eyes and open the doors of American businesses to what is possible here, and we will be working in partnership with the government to do so.
PRESIDENT OUATTARA: (In French.)

Hillary Clinton's Meeting with Staff and Families of Embassy Abidjan

2012-01-17T12:43:00.000-05:00

Meeting with Staff and Families of Embassy Abidjan

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. Embassy Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
January 17, 2012

Well, thank you, and I am so pleased to be here with all of you today to thank you. Thank you for the great support that you are giving to the important relationship between the United States and Cote d'Ivoire and the people of both of our countries. I know that 2011 was a challenging year, and I am so grateful by what you did during the course of this past year. I want to thank the Ambassador. Thank you very much, Phil, and Mrs. Carter, Amanda, thank you for your leadership. Thanks to all of you who are here today representing the team that is so important that is our country, our government, with people from every agency, and all of you here.
It was quite a year because it started with conflict and violence, but it ended with successful elections. And for most of you, that was a return to a more normal workday, which I know was very welcome. But even in the hardest of times, as the government ground to a halt, as roads were shut down, as the legally elected president was trapped in a hotel, the future of the country at risk, you kept going. And I especially want to thank the locally employed staff, all of the Ivoirians who came to work every day, who took the risks, who worried about your families. Thank you. Thank you for the example and the service you provided. (Applause.)
And thanks to our Foreign Service and Civil Service officers who kept working on the programs that we support here. You kept delivering the lifesaving AIDS drugs, you kept the cables coming so we could have a firsthand view of what was going on. We didn’t have to just read the news; we could get it directly from those of you who were on the ground living it and seeing it. And I know that despite impassable roads and personal risks, that did not keep Ambassador Carter or DCM Julia Stanley, who I see back there, and their team from doing whatever was required – meeting with government leaders, meeting with those who were trying to bring an end to the crisis.
You do outstanding work every day, not just through a crisis. I’m aware of that because I see the results. Thank you for the partnerships you’ve created with NGOs. Thank you for helping women and men start small businesses. Thank you for working with farmers to increase their productivity. Thank you for working with American businesses to bring more of our businesses here to this country. Thank you for fighting malaria and other diseases. Thank you for everything. And I know that many of you are without your children, and we’re going to try to do something about that. The Ambassador and I talked about this last night, and I will certainly report back to our team in Washington that other embassy families have brought their children back here, and I hope that we will be able to do that as well. (Applause.)
Now I understand that we have a few people here on their first tours. And no matter what anyone tells you, this is not quite a model. Not every first tour is so eventful. But what great experience from great leadership you have acquired. And I remember when I called in to talk to the Ambassador and to express my concern about all of you, I was so proud to know that I was talking to such a first-rate team, Americans and Ivoirians alike. I also know that our locally employed staff are here providing continuity, providing the knowledge that new ambassadors, new secretaries always need.
This is a critical time in Cote d'Ivoire’s history. I had excellent meetings today with members of the government, with, of course, the president, the prime minister, and others. The United States stands ready to be a good partner and a friend as you restore peace and security, pursue reconciliation, follow an agenda for economic and social development. We are optimistic about what the future will be for Cote d'Ivoire and for our partnership. Twenty-five years ago when another Secretary of State – the last time a Secretary of State came, it was George Shultz – arrived here, Cote d'Ivoire was the economic engine of West Africa. You will be again. I have no doubt about that. (Applause.)
So thank you for your service, thank you for your commitment to this important relationship, and now, I’d like to shake hands and thank you personally for everything you do. (Applause.)

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 17, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 17, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel to, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Lome, Togo, and Sal, Cape Verde. She is accompanied by Counselor and Chief of Staff Mills, Assistant Secretary Carson, Ambassador-At-Large Verveer and Policy Planning Director Sullivan. Click here for more information.

8:45 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivore.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

9:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

10:20 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a joint press availability with President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

11:15 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with the staff and families of Embassy Abidjan in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:45 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton participates in a roundtable discussion with youth and community leaders at the Center for Research and Action for Peace in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:40 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with President Faure Gnassingbe, Lome, Togo.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

3:45 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with the staff and families of Embassy Lome in Lome, Togo.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

8:00 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister José Neves, Sal Island, Cape Verde.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

Hillary Clinton at Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Inauguration

2012-01-16T18:17:00.000-05:00

She has been in the Ivory Coast since about mid-day our time, but earlier today, Mme. Secretary led the U.S. delegation to the second inauguration of Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President of Liberia. We see her arriving with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) arrives at the arrive at the inauguraion ceremony of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia, on January 16, 2012. Clinton arrived in Liberia ahead of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's inauguration for a second six-year term in office. Some 30 heads of state are expected to attend the swearing-in of Sirleaf, a joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, in the $1.2 million (900,000 euro) inauguration which will include a massive parade in the capital and festivities around the country. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

: US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton () sits next to Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade (C) during the inauguration ceremony for the President of Liberia for another term on January 16, 2012 in Monrovia. Liberia's Nobel peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in Monday in a lavish $1.2 million ceremony and called for reconciliation after her reelection in disputed polls divided the nation. With US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in attendance, the 73-year-old grandmother took the oath administered by the country's Chief Justice Johnnie Lewis as thousands looked on from the grounds of the capitol building. AFP PHOTO / STRINGER (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (seated on L) meets with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2nd R) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia January 16, 2012. Clinton is in Liberia to attend the second presidential inauguration of Sirleaf, Africa's first woman president, later in the day. REUTERS/Larry Downing (LIBERIA - Tags: POLITICS)

Hillary Clinton: Wheels Down Ivory Coast

2012-01-16T13:41:00.001-05:00

: Ivory Coast's Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan (2nd R) and the U.S. Ambassador to Ivory Coast Phillip Carter III (R) welcome U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her arrival in Abidjan January 16, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing (IVORY COAST - Tags: POLITICS)

: Ivory Coast's Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan (C) and the U.S. Ambassador to Ivory Coast Phillip Carter III (R) welcome U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after her arrival in Abidjan January 16, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing (IVORY COAST - Tags: POLITICS)

Secretary Clinton With the Staff and Families of Embassy Monrovia

2012-01-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

Meeting With the Staff and Families of Embassy Monrovia

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Embassy Monrovia
Monrovia, Liberia
January 16, 2012

AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Good afternoon. It’s great to see all of you here in this building. I have one simple task: to introduce the person who needs no introduction, our boss, your boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, thank you so much. Well, I have to say, this is a doubly blessed occasion, to be able to attend the inauguration and then come for the official ribbon cutting on the new embassy chancery. And I’ve had just a quick look around. I think this is going to make lives a little easier, workspaces a little more expansive, and enable you to do the important work you are doing on behalf of this very significant relationship between the United States and the people of our country and the government and people of Liberia.
This new compound is a testament to the work you do, and it is a symbol of America’s lasting commitment to our partners today. We are committed to standing with the people of Liberia as you, as they, continue their important journey, reconciling political and ethnic differences, strengthening democracy, bringing prosperity and opportunity to people, particularly young people.
So Ambassador, let me thank you for your leadership here, and I know that you and your husband, Lafayette, who is there, have served with great commitment and enthusiasm on behalf of this relationship. I also want to thank the DCM Karl Albrecht and the Political/Economic Counselor Bill McCulla and everyone else who worked so hard to make this visit possible. I know that the local staff has been particularly helpful. You’ve been cutting through red tape, and I appreciate that, and now I’ll be cutting through (inaudible). (Laughter.)
I was also pleased to be here for the second inauguration of President Sirleaf, because I’ve known Ellen for a long time. I have a great deal of admiration and appreciation for the work she is doing, along with her other colleagues in government. And as she did at the end of the ceremony today, in recognizing in her speech and in the invitation to the opposition leaders to come forward, there has to be a recognition that in elections sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I happen to know that for a fact. (Laughter.) I have done both of them, and I think it’s important that the lessons that we have learned over more than 235 years of trying to perfect our union be understood by other democracies and countries that are really making such strides.
I often am struck by how unusual people think it is that after I ran so hard against President Obama and he won he then asked me to serve with him. And people all over the world say, “Well, how did that happen? Why did he ask you? Why did you say yes?” And I said, “Well, because we both love our country.” And I think what you saw in President Sirleaf’s speech today – (applause) – is that same set of values. What does it mean to be a patriot? Well, it doesn’t mean that you always win. It means that you put the common good in front of your own personal and political interests. And yes, it is important to continue to express opposing opinions. We do that quite vigorously back home. But at the end of the day you have to agree upon certain values and then work together to fulfill them.
Now, many of you here today did so much on behalf of this election. Some volunteered as observers. I know that many of you were standing right alongside ECOWAS and African Union observers in a show of support for the elections and democracy. You were talking to poll workers, you were helping people get their ballots and find out where they were on the voter registration roles.
But our work with Liberia goes far beyond support for the elections. We are working so hard on security issues, and I’m delighted that General Ham, the commander of AFRICOM, is with us today. General, thank you so much for being here. (Applause.) And our USAID and Peace Corps colleagues are working so hard on healthcare and education and so much else. (Applause.)
And let’s face it, some of you have to drive roads that have been a little impassable. I was looking at the picture in the newspaper that was passed out about President Sirleaf and plowing through roads that were flooded and walking over logs, along with our ambassador, to get to places that were not so easily accessible. And you do that all the time, and I am grateful and appreciative.
I also want to say a special word of gratitude to our local staff. Now, I’m well aware that Secretaries comes and go, ambassadors come and go, DCMs come and go, political officers come and go, the counselors – everyone comes and goes, except the local staff. They stay year, after year, after year. And boy, do we need you. We cannot do this work without you and your body of knowledge and experience.
I’d especially like to recognize Isaac Jefferson. Isaac? Is Isaac here today? Isaac Jefferson as a financial assistant. (Applause.) Mr. Jefferson has been working with us for 21 years. And Adama Konate. Adama has been a driver for 36 years. (Applause.) Thank you very much, and all of you.
And I also want to embarrass Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield by acknowledging, in front of all of you, the enormous contribution that she has made during her time here to Embassy Monrovia. Not only did she spearhead our efforts to support the National Election Commission, but she’s been a real champion for the rights of women and children, and that’s an issue very close to my heart as well. (Applause.) And she has spoken out against corruption, which is an issue I spoke with the president about earlier, that it’s one of the roadblocks to greater prosperity here in Liberia. And I thank you for your work on that, Ambassador. Of course, it’s something we deal with all over the world, so we need good ideas. We want Liberia to help lead the way in how you can eliminate the cancer of corruption, which just zaps people’s energies and undermines their initiative.
Well, now I think it’s time to inaugurate, so to speak, this new compound. This space is fabulous. I love the hanging sculptures. I know you’ll have time and now space for many more public events here. I’m told that the DCM can now get rid of the two plastic buckets that he’s been keeping in his office for those time when rainwater drips through the ceiling. (Laughter.) And under this new roof, you’re going to be able to come together with a single mission, no matter where you are coming to us from, that’s not (inaudible), because this is not just about the State Department, USAID.
It’s a whole-of-government effort, because that’s what it takes to support this extraordinary journey that Liberia is on, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they get to the destination of democracy, prosperity, peace and security safely. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 16, 2012

2012-01-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 16, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 16, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel to Monrovia, Liberia, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Lome, Togo, and Sal, Cape Verde. She is accompanied by Counselor Mills, Assistant Secretary Carson, Ambassador Verveer, and Policy Planning Director Sullivan. Click here for more information.

10:00 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia, Liberia.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY)

10:45 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton attends the inauguration of Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia, Liberia.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

1:30 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Embassy staff and their families and attends a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the New Embassy Compound in Monrovia, Liberia.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

Hillary Clinton: Wheels Down Monrovia

2012-01-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

On our Martin Luther King Day, Secretary Clinton is leading the U.S. delegation to the second inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves. The capital was named for President Monroe. Mme. Secretary is on a two-day whirlwind trip, stopping in four countries.

From the en route background briefing:

Background Briefing en route Liberia
Special Briefing
Senior Administration Official, Office of the Spokesperson
ERT Monrovia, Liberia
January 15, 2012

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Our first stop in Liberia is to attend the second inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia. This is an extraordinarily important occasion because of the fact that Liberia is now experiencing nearly a decade of peace after 15 years of enormous civil conflict in which that country was destroyed by two leaders – Charles Taylor, who is currently being indicted by the ICC, and by the late Samuel Doe. Fifteen years of violence was ended in 2003. Ellen Sirleaf Johnson was elected president in 2005, and she has now been reelected last year in November to a second term.

Liberia has been a close friend of the United States for many, many years, a country established by freed American slaves in 1848, and is probably as close as any country in Africa ever will be to being a American colony. But this is special because Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has done a remarkable job over the last four and a half years of rebuilding her country, promoting reconciliation, and beginning the difficult task of reestablishing one of Africa’s weakest infrastructures. It’s also important because Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the only female president in Africa, and she was, last year, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her reconstruction work.

This is an opportunity for the United States to express our appreciation and praise for the outstanding work that she has done over the last five years to acknowledge the success of her recent election, to applaud her for her Nobel Prize, and to help encourage the reconstruction to continue, reconciliation and reconstruction that is going on there. You all may remember that the Secretary last visited Monrovia in August of 2009. This is the second trip by the Secretary to Monrovia since she came into office three years ago.

Our second stop is to Cote d'Ivoire, where we have one of Africa’s newest and most dynamic presidents, Alassane Ouattara, in power. Cote d'Ivoire, as many of you know, was the most important country in Francophone Africa. It was the jewel in the crown of the French colonial system, and up until a decade ago, rivaled Nigeria and Ghana as one of the three leading economic powerhouses in West Africa. A decade ago, after failed elections and the assassination of the sitting president, the country went into a deep political spiral. And for a decade, one leader dominated the political agenda in an authoritarian and frequently brutal manner. He is now in The Hague being indicted for his actions.

But you may recall in November of (inaudible), Alassane Ouattara actually won the election for the presidency, but Laurent Gbagbo, the old and now arrested president, refused to acknowledge those results, although they were certified by the United Nations, by the Carter Center, by the European Union, and also by ECOWAS leaders in West Africa. For four months, four and a half months, we along with others in the international community tried to get Mr. Gbagbo to leave. President Obama directly engaged in this effort himself, as did Secretary Clinton, who actually provided a way out for Mr. Gbagbo, but he did not, in fact, accept it.

The UN as well as French troops ultimately removed Mr. Gbagbo from power and put in place Alassane Ouattara, who is the current president. In the short period that he has been in office, he has helped to restore some of the country’s economy, reopen the ports, started the process of rebuilding some of the roads, and moving the country’s agriculture, mostly cocoa, out to markets. President Obama had an opportunity on July 29, 2011 to invite Alassane Ouattara to the White House along with other – four other – three other Francophone African presidents to demonstrate U.S. support for democracy and political reconciliation.
The Secretary’s trip to Cote d'Ivoire will, in fact, underscore our commitment and the President’s commitment to strengthening democratic institutions, standing by political leaders who are prepared to work for democracy, and to improve human rights and economic opportunities. This will be the first visit by a Secretary of State to Cote d'Ivoire since George Shultz was here in 1986 – a long time, but it is, again, an opportunity to underscore our support for democracy and for conflict reconciliation – post-conflict reconciliation.
[snip]
I will just mention that the Secretary, while she is in Cote d'Ivoire, will in fact have meetings with President Ouattara and his senior government officials, but she will also participate in a Cote post-conflict reconciliation event with a number of young political leaders who are across the political divide in that country.

The third stop is going to be to Lome, Togo. Again, Togo has a interesting political history and background. From 1967 to 2005, Togo was dominated by a single individual, one of Africa’s longest serving rulers, President Eyadema, who was, in fact, one of the first coup leaders in Africa. He was – he died in 2005. There were hasty elections – not so very good ones – which brought in his son to power, President Faure. Those elections were accompanied by violence. Since then, there have been a second set of presidential elections in March and April of 2010. Those elections were substantially better than the first election, and in fact, represented only the third time that the country had had anything that resembled elections in a multiparty process.

President Faure has – is determined to break away from the history of his father. He is determined to put in place a strong reform-minded government – one that is democratic, multiparty, and which opens up the country. This will be an opportunity for Secretary Clinton to encourage President Faure to continue along a reformist path, to continue to promote political reconciliation in his country, and to speed on economic reforms that will embrace a larger portion of the country.
This will be a historic visit. No president and no secretary of State have ever visited Togo before. This will be the first time that we will have a visit of a U.S. official at this time.

Equally important for us, many of you know that in January of this year, Togo became a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council. It will be on the council for approximately two years. It’s an opportunity to develop stronger relations with them as they serve their tenure on the Security Council.
[

snip]

MODERATOR: Do you want – Cape Verde, or you want to do that on the way to Cape Verde?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: We’ll do that one on the way to Cape Verde.

MODERATOR: Okay.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: I could just say that the Secretary is going to briefly make a stop in Cape Verde, where she will meet with the prime minister. Cape Verde is one of Africa’s strongest and most successful democracy. It is, along with Mauritius and Botswana, a premier democratic performer – a multiparty political system, good human rights records, but more important than anything else, it has effectively utilized its foreign assistance probably better than any other African state. It was, in fact, the first country to be given a second MCC grant after effectively utilizing its money well during the first grant.

Many of you – some of you who were, again, with us in August of ’09 know that we met there with the president, the prime minister, and foreign minister during this Secretary’s first visit to Africa. Cape Verde has probably done more than any other country to transform its economy and open up opportunities for its people. And so it’s a good friend and a good partner and a strong multiparty democracy.

Media Reads on a Hillary Run: Sunday, January 15, 2012 edition

2012-01-15T19:06:00.002-05:00

As they roll in, I continue posting these articles suggesting that our girl take the 2012 plunge. I am not entertaining the switcheroo articles although some arguments are valid. Joe Biden has done a wonderful job as VP, and he is not the problem. The problem is a president without the spine to sweep into office with a grand plan for jobs, to stand up to the GOP (after losing the majority he had in his first two years), or to veto an NDAA bill containing amendments antithetical to the rights of American citizens as stated in the Bill of Rights.

We need a leader with guts - the kind of intestinal fortitude Hillary Clinton manifested when, in 2009, she added the U.S. to the nations reviewed for human rights abuses in the annual Human Rights Report. Obama must have forgotten that little item when he neglected to veto the NDAA.

Clinton backers want her to seek the presidency
Posted Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012
By Anna M. Tinsley
Four years hasn't been long enough to forget.
Some supporters of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid, including Texans, remain bitter over how the last primary turned out, and they want their candidate back on the ballot this year, one way or another.
Petitions are being circulated to encourage Clinton to resign as secretary of state and run for president; write-in efforts are under way to put her name at the top of the ballot.
Read more >>>>

This one encourages discussion and provides a lovely slideshow of the SOS at work.

Should Hillary Clinton Run In 2012 Against Obama?
The Current Secretary of State is looking better than ever. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I can't help but pay attention to her dramatic make-over. I have done some research and it seems that I'm not the only one wondering if Hillary would dare challenge the current President. I highly doubt she would do something like that, even if she and her team want it so badly.

Obama has fallen from grace so quickly that it would not be surprising if someone challenges him for the Democratic nomination in 2012. Many, including former Vice-President Dick Cheney, have been talking about the big 'mistake' voters did by choosing Obama over Clinton in 2008. In the last Republican Presidential debate, front-runner Mitt Romney called Obama inexperienced and way 'over his head.'
Read more and ring in!!!!!!

Wednesday: On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

2012-01-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

If for no other reason, you have to hand it to Hillary Clinton for her tireless dedication to her work. She will be in Africa Monday and Tuesday: four countries in two days. Upon return, she will hit the ground running on Wednesday. Through it all she manages to be amazingly energetic and cheerful. What a gal!

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Present the 2011 Awards for Corporate Excellence
Notice to the Press
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 13, 2012
The U.S. Department of State will present the thirteenth annual Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) on January 18, 2012, during a ceremony in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the Harry S. Truman building, Washington, DC. The ceremony will start at 11:00 a.m. and will be followed by a reception in the Thomas Jefferson Room.
The prestigious ACE recognizes the important role of U.S. businesses in advancing good corporate governance and democratic principles worldwide. The award honors exemplary business practices, corporate social responsibility, and innovation in a company’s overseas operations.
This year 62 nominations were received for American companies operating in 38 different countries. The winners were chosen by the Principals’ Award Selection Committee. The Committee, chaired by the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, includes a representative of the offices of the Secretary, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the Under Secretary for Management, and various Assistant Secretaries. It also includes senior officials from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Department of Commerce.
The 2011 ACE winners were selected from the following 13 finalists: Amway in China, ANOVA Food LLC in Indonesia, Archer Daniels Midland in Paraguay, Cargill in India, General Motors in Uzbekistan, Grenada Chocolate Company in Grenada, Intel in Vietnam, Johnson & Johnson in Russia, Joy Global Africa in South Africa, Procter & Gamble in Nigeria, Procter & Gamble in Pakistan, Sahlman Seafoods in Nicaragua, and Tiger Machinery in Russia. The winners will be publicly and officially announced at the ACE ceremony.
After the Secretary announces the 2011 ACE winners in Washington, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Roberts D. Hormats will lead the interactive portion of the ceremony via satellite. U.S. Ambassadors and in-country company executives will participate from the U.S. Embassies that submitted the winning nominations, where simultaneous events will take place.
The ceremony will be streamed live on January 18 at 11:00 a.m. EST on www.state.gov.

Africa: On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

2012-01-14T11:35:00.000-05:00

Secretary Clinton To Travel to Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Cape Verde

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 13, 2012

Secretary Clinton will travel to Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, and Cape Verde on January 16 – 17, 2012 to demonstrate U.S. commitment to post-conflict return to peace, good governance, and economic development as well as to emphasize U.S. focus on democratization.

While in Liberia, Secretary Clinton will attend President Sirleaf’s inauguration and preside over the ribbon-cutting of the New U.S. Embassy Compound in Monrovia. In Cote d’Ivoire, she will meet with President Ouattara to showcase our support for national reconciliation and strengthening democratic institutions following successful legislative elections in December 2011. In the first visit of a Secretary of State to Togo, Secretary Clinton will meet President Faure to demonstrate U.S. support for Togo’s democratic progress and economic reforms and to congratulate Togo on its recent election to the United Nations Security Council, where it holds a non-permanent seat for 2012 and 2013. In Cape Verde, Secretary Clinton will meet Prime Minister Neves to discuss cooperation on regional issues like counternarcotics, good governance, sound economic policies, and Cape Verde’s second Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.

Hillary Clinton: U.S. - Burma to Exchange Ambassadors

2012-01-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

Remarks on Burma

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
January 13, 2012

Good morning. When I visited Burma in December on behalf of President Obama and the United States, I encouraged authorities to continue along the path of reform. In particular, I urged them to unconditionally release all political prisoners, halt hostilities in ethnic areas, and seek a true political settlement. This would broaden the space for political and civic activity, and by doing so, it would lay the groundwork to fully implement legislation that would protect universal freedoms of assembly, speech, and association. I also urged that they sever all illicit military ties with North Korea.

Since then, we have seen progress on several fronts. Today, I join President Obama in welcoming the news that the government has released hundreds of political prisoners, several of whom have languished in prison for decades. This is a substantial and serious step forward in the government’s stated commitment to political reform, and I applaud it, and the entire international community should as well. Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed these dramatic steps as further indication of progress and commitment.

Many of the people released today have distinguished themselves as steadfast, courageous leaders in the fight for democracy and human rights at critical times in their country’s recent history. And like all of the people of their country, they want and deserve to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

I also warmly welcome news of a ceasefire agreement between the government and the Karen National Union. The KNU has been involved in one of the longest-running insurgencies anywhere in the world, and entering a ceasefire agreement that begins to address the longstanding grievances of the Karen people is an important step forward. It is in that spirit that I urge the government to enter into meaningful dialogue with all ethnic groups to achieve national reconciliation, to allow news media and humanitarian groups access to ethnic areas.

In addition to the ceasefire and the release of political prisoners, the civilian leadership has taken other important steps since assuming power in April 2011, including easing restrictions on media and civil society; engaging Aung San Suu Kyi in a substantive dialogue and amending electoral laws to pave the way for the National League for Democracy to participate in the political process; setting a date for the by-elections this year; passing new legislation to protect the right of assembly and the rights of workers; beginning to provide humanitarian access for the United Nations and NGOs to conflict areas; and establishing their own national Human Rights Commission.

As I said last December, the United States will meet action with action. Based on the steps taken so far, we will now begin. In consultation with members of Congress and at the direction of President Obama, we will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma. We will identify a candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to represent the United States Government and our broader efforts to strengthen and deepen our ties with both the people and the government.

This is a lengthy process, and it will, of course, depend on continuing progress and reform. But an American Ambassador will help strengthen our efforts to support the historic and promising steps that are now unfolding. I have also instructed my team at the State Department to identify further steps that the United States can take in conjunction with our friends and allies to support the reforms underway. And I intend to call President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi this weekend to underscore our commitment to walk together with them on the path of reform.

Of course, there is more work to be done, and we will continue to work with the government on their reform and reconciliation efforts, including taking further steps to address the concerns of ethnic minority groups, making sure that there is a free and fair by-election, and making all the releases from prison unconditional, and making sure that all remaining political detainees are also released.

But this is a momentous day for the diverse people of Burma, and we will continue to support them and their efforts and to encourage the government to take bold steps that build the kind of free and prosperous nation, that I heard from everyone I met with, they desire to see. We believe that that future is achievable, and we look forward to being a partner and a friend as we see the progress continue. Thank you.

Stardust at the Met: Hillary Sparkles

2012-01-13T13:14:00.000-05:00

In addition to being exquisitely beautiful, Hillary Clinton is irresistibly cute. She has the most adorable sense of humor, never at anyone's expense. She made a funny little remark regarding one painting I never fail to visit every time I go to the Met - one of my favorite playgrounds on earth. Here she is last night with Met Museum Director Thomas Campbell, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, and Met Museum curator Morrison Heckscher, chairman of the American Wing

Scene Last Night: Hillary Clinton, Richard Chilton, John Paulson, Madame X
By Amanda Gordon - Jan 13, 2012 11:29 AM ET
“Are we going to reenact it?” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on her way to Emanuel Leutze’s gigantic painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”
She would have needed an army: the painting depicts Washington on Christmas night, 1776, on his way to a surprise attack on the British.
Instead she posed for pictures in front of the painting at a black-tie party the museum held last night to celebrate the 26 newly renovated rooms of the American Wing.
Read more >>>>

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 13, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 13, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:25 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Central American and Dominican youth ambassadors, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues Ronan Farrow, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:45 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

Regional Theater in New Hampshire

2012-01-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

Many readers here will recall this scripted moment less than fondly. I call it scripted because although the party tried its best to hide the truth, many knew at the time, and many more know now, that what was being televised was not a true and transparent roll call vote. It is no secret by now among Democrats that the actual vote was taken in hotel rooms that morning and that committed Hillary delegates that we sent to cast votes for her were coerced to vote otherwise before Hillary released them. What we saw here, deplorable as it was to see a valid candidate and the winner of the popular vote on the convention floor, was theater.

Hillary Clinton was escorted onto the convention floor to rescue the party's unity and request a unanimous nomination of Barack Obama. It was a spectacle, for sure, and not the party's finest moment.

The party seems to have a penchant for the theatrical since something appears to be rotten in the state of New Hampshire as this year's primaries commence. Curtain up! A swiftly organized write-in campaign for HRC in the New Hampshire primary was launched in early December and was publicized here, at other Hillary blogs, and in myriad Hillary Facebook groups. We shared and we tweeted no end to get the word out to New Hampshire voters that on the Dem side there was more than one choice.

Tuesday, the 10th was primary day, and by the next morning we saw these results from C-SPAN. They were posted here on this blog.

Race	Status	Candidate	Votes	Vote %	Del*	Est. % In
New Hampshire Updated 1:59 p.m. EST, Jan 11, 2012 County: Table \| Map		Obama	48,970	82%	0	100% reporting
		Total Write-ins	5,908	10%	0	100% reporting

We were informed by the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office that the write-in tallies would be available the next day - today. You can imagine the shock waves that traveled through the Hillary sites today when that office made these results available.

Presidential Primary Election January 10, 2012 President of the United States - DEMOCRATIC

Suspension of disbelief is possible when the plot is reasonable, but these results are not. No one voted for HRC? Democrats wrote in the GOP clown car occupants on the Dem ballot? No one wrote in any other Democrats or independents on that ballot? Smells fishy to me! So, many of us had our Hamlet moment today since something indeed is rotten in the state of New Hampshire. The only voters missing are Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, but I guess it is harder for them to register now that ACORN has bitten the dust. Anyway, Shakespearean productions are almost never accompanied by cartoons.

The only other explanation is that the Hillary Clinton write-ins were inscribed with disappearing ink. We are undaunted, because for our money, the finest moment of that 2008 convention was this. Yes, Hillary, we will keep going!

Video: Secretary Clinton With Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci

2012-01-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

Remarks With Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
January 12, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning, everyone, and it’s a pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Medelci here to Washington for consultations. I’ve had the opportunity to work with him now and it’s a great tribute to the strong bilateral relationship between our two countries that we have ongoing consultations like this.Our two nations have worked closely on security and economic issues, particularly counterterrorism, for more than a decade. Algeria is a charter member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum which we launched last September in New York. And we recently initiated a Counterterrorism Contact Group to further facilitate cooperation in the Sahel.
We discussed the evolving situation in Syria and the need to end the Assad government’s assault on its own people. Algeria has participated in the Arab League’s monitoring mission in Syria, but regrettably, the violence has not stopped. And we will continue to work with Algeria and all our partners in the Arab League to end the violence in Syria and to hold those responsible for the violence accountable.
We also discussed Algeria’s upcoming parliamentary elections and ongoing political reforms. The United States is committed to working with Algeria to support an open, free, democratic nation with a thriving civil society and institutions that give the Algerian people the future they so deserve.
We thanked Algeria for the support it has given to Tunisia and Libya. We encouraged greater cooperation with Morocco and an active role in the UN-led negotiations to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara.
So I appreciate this time together, Minister, and look forward to many more opportunities to work together.
FOREIGN MINISTER MEDELCI: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much, Madam Secretary. I was delighted to have this first meeting with you early in this new year, and I do hope that our upcoming meeting, our next meeting, will be in Algiers, where you are invited. And I can only applaud the quality of the discussions that we have had and we have, all working together to work on all of these sensitive and difficult issues, and we are all striving and working together to improve the conditions of the inhabitants of these regions.
And as I stated, Madam Secretary, Algeria will spare no effort to help improve our relations and the situation in the Maghreb and the countries of the Sahel. And of course, in order to do so, we are counting on the support of our partners, notably the United States.
We did indeed talk about the situation in Syria, and we did have a concurrence of views. Both sides denounced the violence which is taking place in Syria. And in this respect, the Arab League’s mission needs all of the support that it can get from its international partners. And notably, we pride on the fact that this mission benefits from the support from the United States.
And in this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to urge all parties in Syria, be it the government or the opposition, to work together with the Arab League in order to help solve this extremely complex problem and issue.
Algeria has acceded to the chairmanship of the Group of 77 of the United Nations since yesterday, and on this occasion I thought it would be most important that our very first meeting would be with you, Madam Secretary, because one of the major efforts that the Group of 77 wants to carry out in the future is to increase bridges between our group and our partners.
So let us express the wish that this year 2012 will be a better, more peaceful year than some recent years that we have experienced lately, and let’s hope that our cooperation between Algeria and the United States will grow even more strong and more intense. Thank you very much, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, sir.
FOREIGN MINISTER MEDELCI: Thank you.
MS. NULAND: We’ll take two questions today, the first from Jill Dougherty at CNN.
QUESTION: Thank you, Madam Secretary. Just yesterday you were talking with us about the efforts by the United States to talk with the Taliban. And unfortunately, today we have this video of U.S. Marines apparently desecrating the bodies of dead Taliban. Is this going to complicate and make much more difficult talks with the Taliban? And have U.S. officials heard anything from the Taliban about that video?
And just one connected with the talks: You mentioned Mr. Grossman is – Ambassador Grossman will be there discussing this issue. Are you absolutely convinced that President Karzai is totally on board with these talks?
And then if I might, in our old tradition of adding one more important issue, which it really is – Pakistan, a lot of political instability there, the civilian government under pressure from the military. What is the U.S. doing to shore up that very fragile civilian government?
Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jill, first I want to express my total dismay at the story concerning our Marines, who I have the highest respect and admiration for. But I share completely the views expressed by Secretary Panetta earlier today. I join him in condemning the deplorable behavior that is reflected in this video. It is absolutely inconsistent with American values, with the standards of behavior that we expect from our military personnel and the vast, vast military personnel, particularly our Marines, hold themselves to. So I know Secretary Panetta has ordered a complete investigation of this incident. Anyone – anyone – found to have participated or known about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully accountable.
Now with respect to the implications of this, as I said yesterday, the United States remains strongly committed to helping build a secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic future for the people of Afghanistan. And we will continue to support efforts that will be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned to pursue the possibility of reconciliation and peace. We don’t have any idea standing here today what the outcome of such discussions could be. I think all of us are entering into it with a very realistic sense of what is possible, and that includes, of course, President Karzai and his government, which, after all, bear the ultimate responsibility and the consequences of any such discussions.
I’m not sure we need to interpret this.
Secondly, with respect to Pakistan, I was delighted to welcome the new ambassador here yesterday. She is someone that I’ve known for some time. My message to her was very straightforward: The U.S.-Pakistan relationship is crucial to both of our countries, to the future of our people, to the safety and security of South Asia and the world; we recognize there have been significant challenges in recent months, but we are steadfastly committed to this relationship and working together to make it productive.
So we will continue to do so, and we obviously have expressed a lot of concerns about what we see happening inside Pakistan. It has been our position to stand strongly in favor of a democratically elected civilian government, which we continue to do, and we expect Pakistan to resolve any of these internal issues in a just and transparent manner that upholds the Pakistani laws and constitution.
MS. NULAND: The next question is from (inaudible).
QUESTION: Thank you. How do you see the political reforms introduced by Algeria? And the second question: What is your position about Western Sahara question? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me begin by saying that Algeria has undertaken very significant reforms, and we welcome those. We want to see Algeria having a strong democratic foundation that reflects the aspirations of the Algerian people. We commend the Government of Algeria’s recent efforts in that direction.
We will be eagerly watching the outcome of the parliamentary elections. I am pleased to hear that more women will be participating, and we are also very supportive of the Algerian Government’s invitation to international organizations to monitor the elections. And we’re also encouraged by the Algerian Government’s moves to open up the broadcast media so more voices can be heard, and we think that’s very much in keeping with the goal of greater democratization that the government has committed to.
And with regard to the Western Sahara, our policy has not changed. We continue to support efforts to find a peaceful, sustainable, mutually agreed upon solution to the conflict. We support the negotiations carried out by the United Nations, and we encourage all parties, including Algeria, to play an active role in trying to move toward a resolution.
Do you care to add anything, Minister?
FOREIGN MINISTER MEDELCI: (Via interpreter) Since no question was asked of me directly, I would probably just seize this opportunity to say that we are ready to work with all of our partners on development issues. And since indeed these upcoming elections are to take place, we are indeed ready to work with all of our partners.
With respect to the situation in Western Sahara, I don’t think I could have summarized it any better than you did, other than just to say that I just learned yesterday, in fact, that the secretary general of the United Nations is planning a meeting in February involving all parties concerned.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for January 12, 2012

2012-01-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Public Schedule for January 12, 2012

Public Schedule
Washington, DC
January 12, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the assistant secretaries of the regional bureaus, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY)

12:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at a celebration of the opening of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

Writing Hillary In: Part Two The South Carolina Roadblock

2012-01-12T00:19:00.000-05:00

Not so fast, it seems! There IS no write in option. At the Petition Facebook group, however, there appears to be a way we can battle this totalitarian one-candidate ballot.

Steve Rosinski
I am asking all Hillary supporters to write to the South Carolina Secretary of State demanding suspension of the 'No Write-in Rule' under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. We are prepared to seek legal recourse if the Secretary is not responsive. If anyone can help with these legal issues, we'd be grateful.
South Carolina Secretary of State: Contact/Feedback
www.scsos.com
Thank you for visiting the online office of the South Carolina Secretary of State. We are working hard to revolutionize the way you do business in South Carolina. Please let us know if you have any feedback, questions or concerns.

Let's all do our part so that our neighbors in South Carolina can write Hillary in should they wish to!