During an address at the No Limits conference in Washington, D.C., former First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discusses America’s role in helping others in nations around the world.
During a discussion at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls the current healthcare proposal conservative compared to systems used by other countries. (1:00)
In a discussion at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C on Friday about the U.S Agenda for the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that President Obama’s outreach efforts to the government and the people of Iran has not been done by a U.S. president in the last thirty years. (0:15)
By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Friday the U.S agenda for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), touching on issues such as the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, the conflict in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation and the threat posed by Iran.
While she read her speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., she discussed the “ambitious” intentions of the Obama administration at next week’s UNGA in New York, and alluded to a long term goal of a world “with no nuclear weapons.” While fielding questions, she reflected on the state of American foreign policy today.
“For many years, [the U.S] outsourced our policy and concerns about the nuclear program to others to try to intervene with and persuade Iran to change course,” she said. “So we were on the sidelines…we were just trying to figure out how to get other people to go on the field and deal with this problem and look where we are today. We’re really nowhere.”
Clinton also discussed the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, which was retooled to focus on defending the United States and its allies in Europe from short and mid-range missile attacks. The strategy rejects the Bush administration’s plan to station interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland that were intended to stop long-range missiles that the current administration believes Iran does not have. Since Poland and the Czech Republic will no longer have land-based interceptors, the new plan eases pressure on Russia, displeasing some Republican members of Congress upon Obama’s announcement of the strategy on Thursday.
“This decision was not about Russia,” she said. “It was about Iran and the threat its ballistic missile program poses. Because of this position, we believe we will be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat and to do so with technology that works and a higher degree of confidence that what we pledge to do we can actually deliver.”
She later discussed Iran and the repercussions the country must face for not revealing its intentions to the international community for nuclear technology.
“Our concern is not Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but its responsibility to demonstrate that it’s program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes,” she said. “This is not hard to do. The Iranian government seeks a sense of justice in the world, but stands in the way of the justice it seeks.”
In response to a question from Brookings Institute President Strobe Talbott, Clinton also discussed the U.S. government’s strategy for restructuring the country’s health care policy.
“It’s interesting that what we are proposing is fundamentally so conservative compared with so many of our friends and allies around the world, who do a much better job then we do in covering everybody and keeping costs down,” Clinton said. “And yet some of the political opposition is so overheated. We have to calm down here, take two aspirin, go to bed, think about it in the morning. But I’m optimistic.”
By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday to outline the Obama administration’s broad foreign policy objectives. Clinton highlighted the administration’s plan to use more tax dollars for foreign aid and realign global governance, and underscored its dedication to U.S. security.
“We advance our security, our prosperity, and our values, by improving the material conditions of people’s lives around the world,” Clinton said. “These efforts also lay the ground work for greater global cooperation by building the capacity of new partners and tackling shared problems from the ground up.”
U.S. foreign aid has not significantly improved global conditions according to Clinton. “We have devoted a smaller percentage of our government budget to development than almost any other advanced country,” despite giving more money than any other nation. “I want more of our tax dollars to be used effectively and deliver tangible results,” Clinton said.
Clinton asserted that the Obama administration will work to build a global consensus through partnerships, saying “we’ll work through existing institutions and reform them, but we’ll go further.”
Amidst a record deficit, pundits have criticized the Obama administration’s foreign policy objectives, calling the goal of providing more foreign aid unsustainable. Additionally, some have criticized the U.S.’s desire to realign global governance, arguing that it weakens U.S. power and leaves the country vulnerable to threats by North Korea and other unfriendly nations.
Clinton addressed these concerns by saying that if the U.S. uses its power to build relationships through common values, the world will be safer because countries will seek to find solutions to the world’s problems.
By Sam Wechsler – Talk Radio News Service
On Friday, Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) announced a resolution to condemn China’s violent repression of the recent Uighur protests. The resolution asks Congress to go on record in support of the Uighur people and criticizes the U.S. government for not speaking out against the Chinese oppression of the Uighur people.
State-run media in China claims that as a result of clashes with Chinese law enforcement officers in recent weeks, the Uighur death toll is 156. The Uighurs estimate the actual count is approximately 500, with thousands more imprisoned.
The Chinese place blame of their violence against the Uighurs on Rebiya Kadeer, President of the World Uighur Congress, who was present at the news conference. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three separate occasions.
In a letter written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Delahunt and Rep. Rohrabacher stated, “[Kadeer] has never encouraged nor supported violence in the past and instead has sought a peaceful resolution to her people’s troubles in China…[We] find it appalling that the Chinese government is attempting to ascribe its own brutal acts as the responsibility of this courageous woman who fully embraces democracy and non-violence.”
During Friday’s news conference, Rep. Delahunt was particularly enraged by the fact that the U.S. Department of Defense would not allow members of the House Human Rights and Oversight Subcommittee to interview the Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Rather, the U.S. allowed Chinese officials to interrogate the Uighur detainees.
According to Susan Baker Manning, a defense attorney for the Uighur detainees, the Uighurs stated that the Chinese interrogation was their “lowest point” at Guantanamo Ba
By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently appointed Farah Pandith as Special Representative to Muslim Communities, a new position within the State Department. Pandith held a news briefing to discuss her role on Wednesday.
Born in India, Pandith grew up in Massachusetts, where she attended Milton Academy, Smith College, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
She has previously held several positions at various government departments, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Security Council, and—most recently—the European bureau of the State Department.
Pandith said that her new role will require her to “leverage my experience in Europe and in other parts of the world to think about how we can have the department work on Muslim engagement in a way that is out of the box, that is innovative, that is dynamic, that works with embassies so that we’re getting to know the next generation of thinkers.”
She declined to answer questions about controversial issues affecting Muslim communities, and said that her role is not to create policy. “What we want to do is build dialogue,” she explained.
She emphasized the nuance and diversity of Islam in the United States and the world, and said that no single engagement tactic would suit every community. “It isn’t just one thing from Washington that’s going to be shoved into everybody’s faces,” she said.
Pandith said she planned to visit multiple areas of the globe over the next few years, and would not deal only with regions where conflicts exist. However, she explained that since she just started her job, she has to “consult with my colleagues at the department to figure out the first few steps.”
Former President Bill Clinton says that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his wife, wants to revolutionize foreign aid. According to Clinton, half of all foreign aid is spent within the U.S. before going over-seas. (0:18)
Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Commmittee Member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)asks Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a question about the energy issue in Europe. He expresses concern that the U.S. seems more concerned with Europe’s energy security than they do. Clinton explains what she knows about the issue. (1:54)
By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discusses the role of the State Department and USAID in these challenging global times during her testimony about the 2010 budget proposal before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (1:39)
