Today, at the Egyptian Ministry of Defense Hillary Clinton met with
Egypt's head of the military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
According to a senior state department official, Mme. Secretary spent
the remainder of the day meeting with factions from Egyptian civil
society. The American Embassy hosted entrepreneurs, members of diverse
religious groups, and women leaders. As always, she met with embassy staff prior to departing Cairo, and while we have no public schedule
yet, we can expect Mme. Secretary to make a stop in Alexandria for the
dedication for the new consulate there before leaving Egypt for the
last stop on this marathon trip - Israel.
Remarks to Flat6 Labs
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Chief of Mission Residence
Cairo, Egypt
July 15, 2012
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Can I just say how excited I am at what all of you are doing, and how
thrilled – thrilling it is to see young people like yourselves working
on these new ideas, new concepts, new services, new products, new way of
organizing. It’s so enterprising, entrepreneurial, as you would say. So
thank you for Flat6, and thanks to USAID for being a partner. But
mostly, thanks to all of you for having the ideas and being willing to
take a risk to do this. And I will be sure to get updates about how you
all are doing. And if I ever need a doctor in Egypt – (laughter) – or a
game for my children or some beautiful product from somewhere in the
country, there’s just so much that you’re doing that can not only be
satisfying to you but change people’s lives for the better. So let’s
give them a round of applause. (Applause.)
Thank you all very much. Take care.
___________________________________________________________
Remarks to Egyptian Women Leaders
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Ambassador's Residence
Cairo, Egypt
July 15, 2012
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, first let me say how pleased I am to have this opportunity to
visit with some longtime acquaintances and people I’ve known and people
that I’ve met recently, and some new faces, to talk about the way
forward here in Egypt. I just had a lengthy meeting with a group of
Christian leaders who had many issues that they wanted to raise directly
with me. And I came to Cairo in part to send a very clear message that
the United States supports the rights – the universal rights – of all
people.
And we support democracy, but democracy has to mean more
than just elections. It has to mean that the majority will be protecting
the rights of the minority. And here in Egypt, we are committed to
protecting and advancing the rights of all Egyptians – men and women,
Muslim and Christian. Everyone who is a citizen of Egypt deserves the
same rights under the law. And I conveyed this to President Morsi in our
meeting yesterday, that we’re going to look to any elected government
to support inclusivity, to make sure that the talents of every Egyptian
can be put to work in building a new future for this ancient and
incredibly important country, and that we are also going to be looking
to the government to respect the rights, and as the new constitution is
written, to enshrine those rights in it.
Egyptians have sacrificed
so much to get to this moment. And we think a strong, durable democracy
that respects the rule of law, that protects the rights of all, is the
best way forward for Egyptians to realize your aspirations and to meet
your own goals for development. So today, now I have the opportunity to
meet with a group of women who are active in Egypt in many different
venues, on many different issues. And I’m looking forward to this
conversation because I don’t think there’s any substitute to hearing
firsthand what is on people’s minds and also what the United States can
do to be a better partner as Egypt makes its transition to real
democracy.
Thank you all very much.
