Secretary Clinton Speaks to Haiti Earthquake Task Force Volunteers

Yesterday, Secretary Clinton gave remarks to Haiti earthquake task force volunteers to express the U.S. Government’s appreciation for their help during the crisis. Here are a few of the words she spoke:

"I wanted this opportunity to thank each and every one of you. Since I have been honored to be the Secretary of State, nothing has made me prouder than your response to this catastrophe.

The earthquake created staggering humanitarian needs and tested our capacity in so many ways. More than 250,000 people killed, many thousands injured, infrastructure devastated, a government profoundly damaged, thousands of Americans to account for, rescue and evacuate, and a broad international effort to coordinate. And in the face of all these and so many more challenges, your performance was remarkable.

...Haiti will be a priority so long as I am Secretary of State, and I know it will be one for all of you who have helped in the largest, most difficult, humanitarian rescue-and-recovery effort we’ve ever attempted, and who will be there with us as we try to make good on our pledge to Haiti."

Read her full remarks here or watch below: Read entire post

Travel: Day One, Secretary Clinton in Qatar

On Sunday, February 14th, Hillary Clinton was wheels down in Doha, Qatar to begin a three-day visit to the area for talks aimed at gathering Arab support for countering Iran's disputed nuclear program and to bring to light the Arab-Israeli peace process.

On her schedule for the first day she was in a series of high-level meetings before addressing an annual US-Islamic World Forum. These meetings included a bilateral with with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as well as meetings with the staff and families from the Embassy in Doha.

Her speech focused on winning backing for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which basically have been frozen for more than a year. The Obama administration has made little headway in efforts to restart the talks, with the Palestinians refusing to sit down until Israel halts all settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

In her remarks she said the Obama administration's efforts in the region have often been "obscured by suspicion and misunderstanding".

It is time, as President Obama said in his speech in Cairo, for a new beginning based on a commitment to open dialogue and equal partnership. A new beginning that confronts the tensions between us and commits all of us to doing the hard work necessary to resolve them... Building a stronger relationship cannot happen overnight. It takes patience, persistence and hard work from all of us... We are and will remain committed to the president's vision for a new beginning.

Read the full remarks of her speech at the US-Islamic World Forum here or watch below:

Watch the Q&A session below or read the full text here: Read entire post

Secretary Clinton gives Update on Haiti

Yesterday, January 20th, 2010, Secretary Clinton gave an update on the new developments in Haiti. She touched on a lot of point and here are a few of the highlights below:

In better news, we saw the arrival of the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship with more than 600 medical personnel, that adds important capacity to our relief efforts. Already, patients are being taken on board via helicopter, and treated.

One area we are urgently focused on is the plight of Haitian orphans... Now, when it comes to children, it is imperative that we closely coordinate with the Haitian Government, the United Nations, and our other international partners such as NGOs and faith communities who are on the ground, who are working to ensure that aid reaches Haiti’s orphanages and that the newly orphaned children are accounted for and cared for.

But we will also be doing everything we can to unite the many children and families who have been separated in the aftermath of the earthquake and to do all that we can to expedite the travel of children who were in the line for adoption, who have a legal, permanent home, guardianship waiting for them.

There are reasons to believe that the days and months ahead can and will be better. Over the years, I have come to know the resilience and determination of the Haitian people. They may have seen more than their share of sorrow. They may have known more struggle and pain and nature’s fickle wrath than many of the rest of us. Yet they come through these storms, they are carried forward by their faith and their hard work, and I am confident that even in this darkest of hours, they will once again persevere.

President Preval and I have been working closely during this past year on plans for the future – for sustainable growth, for new opportunities. These plans, which are a very solid foundation, will, of course, be revised and rethought, but they will not be abandoned. Haiti will need not only the talent and grit of her people, including the Haitian diaspora, but it will need all of us, partners and friends who are committed not just in the immediate aftermath of this terrible earthquake but for the duration.

Read the full update and the Secretary's remarks here or watch below:

This was followed by a bilateral meeting with Milo Djukanovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro. Read the full text of their remarks to the press here or watch below: Read entire post

Hillary Clinton attends Obama's Cabinet Meeting

Yesterday, Secretary Clinton was in her groove at the State Department with a pretty busy day of meetings.

She first met with assistant Secretaries of State, followed by a bilateral with Rumiana Zheleva, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.

These meetings were followed by a large meeting with President Obama and his cabinet. I believe they were there to discuss updates across several areas including national security, budget planning, and health insurance reform.

Read her remarks with Zheleva here or watch below: Read entire post