After what we all hope was a restful weekend at home (we know she worked Saturday in NY at a Pakistan Diaspora event), and a Happy Mothers Day spent with her own Mom, Bill, and Chelsea, Hillary was back to work and pretty in pink again this morning. Hillary's people caught sight of a few twitters last night implying that she may have hurt her foot or ankle and might have been limping on the plane last night. But she walked normally this morning. We did notice she was wearing flats. Be careful on that skateboard you take through your busy days, Hillary!
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waves after speaking at the Annual Global Classrooms DC Model United Nations Conference, Monday, May 11, 2009, at the State Department in Washington
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) greets Foreign Minister of Finland Cai-Goran Alexander Stubb during a bilateral meeting at the State Department in Washington May 11, 2009.
Remarks With Finnish Foreign Minister Cai-Goran Alexander Stubb Before Their Meeting
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m
delighted to welcome the foreign minister from Finland. He and I have
gotten to know each other over the last several months, and I’ve enjoyed
both his company on a personal level and equally the great work that
he’s doing on behalf of an important ally and friend to the United
States. So welcome, we’re glad you’re here.
FOREIGN MINISTER STUBB:
Thank you very much. Thanks, Hillary, and thanks for the invitation.
I’m really happy to be here. I’m just back from Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria,
and Turkey – probably some of the issues that we’ll be discussing today.
We’ll probably also talk about Russia. The U.S. has always been very
close to my heart, not least because I’ve studied here for many years,
and a very close ally, as Hillary said. And if the negotiations get
tough, I’ll put on my southern drawl and we’ll get everything through,
no problem. (Laughter.)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner speak to the press before talks at the State Department in Washington on May 11, 2009.
Remarks With French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner Before Their Meeting
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well,
it’s a delight to welcome back a friend and fellow foreign minister to
discuss a range of issues that are important not only to France and the
United States but to the entire world. And I am delighted to see
Minister Kouchner here. He was just up in New York at the United
Nations. And it has been a great pleasure and privilege for me to work
with you over these past months.
FOREIGN MINISTER KOUCHNER:Thank
you. It’s my (inaudible) to be with Secretary Clinton. And yes, serious
subject we’re talking, if I may, several subject, but Afghanistan, of
course, but we were just talking about Sri Lanka, and the Secretary
(inaudible), and if time enough, to say some words on Somalia and also
Sudan. Thank you for receiving me.
SECRETARY CLINTON:Oh, it’s a pleasure. A long agenda, my friend. Thank you all
FOREIGN MINISTER KOUCHNER: Thank you.
Remarks at the Annual Global Classrooms DC Model United Nations Conference
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Dean Acheson Auditorium
Washington, DC
Good
morning. (Applause.) Well, I want to thank Ambassador Tom Miller, and
I’m delighted to see all of you so enthusiastic and excited about the
day ahead. I also want to thank Ed Elmendorf for his leadership of this
wonderful United Nations association and, of course, the Model UN.
There’s
someone in the audience that I wanted to just recognize as well: Bill
Luers, who is retiring today as president of the United Nations
Association here in the United States. He founded Global Classroom 11
years ago. It’s now in 24 cities around the world, and it’s a great
model and we really thank Bill for his vision, his passion, and his
service in helping young people really become global citizens as well.
Thank you so much, Bill. (Applause.)
Now, I have to say coming
here this morning brought back a lot of memories. My daughter Chelsea
attended Model UN here in Washington back when she was in high school,
and it is great to see middle school students involved, as well as high
school students. This is an opportunity for you to debate some of the
great issues of the day, to meet new people from around the area,
because this new century that we’re in demands the best from everyone.
And I thank you for caring enough to participate.
Your
experience here at the Model UN, both today and in hopefully days and
years to come, are a great way to exhibit your concerns. And how many of
you are concerned about nuclear terrorism? I think everybody should
raise their hand for that. (Laughter.) How many of you are concerned
about global warming? How about migration issues? How about children in
armed conflict? That’s a very personal one. I’ve done some work in that
area over the years and have met a lot of very courageous young people
who had to build a life after having been kidnapped and subjected to all
kinds of abuse and forced to be child soldiers.
Some people
criticize the United Nations for good reasons. I mean, it’s a big
organization and it’s a difficult one to really get your arms around.
There’s so many different countries, and people have different points of
view, but that’s the point of it. If we didn’t have the United Nations,
we would have to invent one. On issues like piracy or the H1N1 flu
virus, we have to work together. And we do so through organizations that
are either formed by, run by, or associated with the United Nations.
And that’s why it was important, when the United Nations was created
back in 1945 here in the United States, that people admitted that we
can’t solve all the problems on our own. No nation, even one as powerful
as ours, is able to do that.
Just look at what’s happening
as we meet today. More than a hundred thousand UN peacekeepers are
stationed around the world. I was recently in Haiti and there’s been a
great degree of security and stability achieved because of the blue
helmets. In particular, that UN force is led by a Brazilian general. We
know the difficulties of trying to deal with failed and failing states
where conflict and violence is just an every-minute occurrence.
And
the United Nations brings relief, they bring humanitarian aid. We’re
looking at what can be done to help the hundreds of thousands of people
fleeing the Swat region of Pakistan because of the Taliban and the
Pakistani army’s offensive. We worry about displaced people in Darfur,
the Sudan. We just have so many concerns, and the United States cares
deeply about the entire world, but we could not be a presence working on
all of these issues were it not for the United Nations.
The
best scientific evidence about the pace and severity of global warming
comes from the intergovernmental panel that the United Nations
established and runs. There are so many issues that you know about in
your studies leading up to being part of the Model UN. And the United
States supports the United Nations because we think it’s an investment
in our own security, and we think it’s a necessary venue for us to
discuss differences and try to hammer out compromises with other
countries.
About a month or so ago when North Korea sent the
missile up and it was in contravention, we believed, of a Security
Council resolution that prohibited the North Koreans from doing that, we
worked with the Japanese and the South Koreans and the Chinese and the
Russians to come up with a much stronger statement than anyone expected.
And it wasn’t easy because people had different perspectives, but it
was finally achieved.
So this is part of the education
process that I’m so pleased you are participating in. And I want to put
in a plug for the State Department and USAID, for the Peace Corps and
PEPFAR and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. We need and are looking
to recruit a new generation of young diplomats, young aid workers and
others who can carry American foreign policy into the world.
When
I appeared before the committee in the Senate for my confirmation, I
said that I thought that we had three pillars for our foreign relations,
and to do what we had to do to protect our security and further our
interests and exemplify our values, we needed defense diplomacy and the
important work of development. I believe that even more strongly today.
And the young people who are coming into the State Department are very
impressive, and I would urge you to think about that as a possible
career choice in the future.
We’re building the State
Department. We are getting money for more diplomats and more development
specialists. We are partnering with the military and hoping to really
make clear that our partnership means that the civilian side of our
efforts have to be run by the State Department and USAID. So there’s a
lot of excitement that we are feeling here in the State Department
today, which is good, because there’s a lot of problems. We face a lot
of challenges, but we also see a lot of opportunities that we want to be
able to seize and do the most with. So I really wanted to come by to
tell you how pleased I am that you’re doing this and how important it is
to debate the issues that you’ll be considering in a respectful,
well-prepared manner.
I’ll just add a word about that.
Sometimes, you can feel so strongly about an issue that you think
everybody should agree with you. Anybody ever feel that way? (Laughter.)
But you still have to marshal your arguments and you still have to make
your case, and you still have to use evidence. So as you’re going
forward with the Model UN process, help yourself become a better, more
effective persuader. Listen to the other side, even if you think in the
beginning they have nothing that you will agree with. And try to hear
what their point of view is, put yourself into their shoes, and make a
more effective argument going forward.
We need your
commitment to what we call smart power. It’s not just our military
strength and it’s not just our diplomatic outreach; we’re trying to do
things differently. And smart power needs smart people. So I hope you
have a great time at the Model UN, and I hope that I’ll see some of you
here in this building in a few years. Thank you all.
# # #
Remarks at Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) Dinner
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
May 11, 2009
Well, I
welcome you all to the Benjamin Franklin Room here on the eighth floor
of the State Department. And it’s a real pleasure to host this event. As
Jo Carole so generously said, I have been involved with FAPE for a long
time and am delighted by the results of the dedication and generosity
that all of you have evidenced over those years. Jo Carole has done a
marvelous job with FAPE, just as she has with the Museum of Modern Art
and so much else that she has nurtured herself.
I really
appreciate all of you who have contributed to FAPE. And it is a special
pleasure to welcome back to the State Department Colin Powell, who is
being immortalized in this 40-foot mural in Jamaica. There’s another
story about the stars that someone was born under and three wise men and
all of that. (Laughter.) But I think we have the closest to the modern
equivalent here. (Applause.)
I have to say that my interest in
FAPE during the ‘90s as First Lady was sparked by the dedication of a
number of you who made a convincing case that we really needed to step
it up and get American artists and their work exhibited as a real symbol
of American culture and the arts. It was also quite wonderful for me
because in the White House, you could not accept any gift from a living
artist. So the fact that we could accept all these gifts for FAPE from
all of the artists who are here tonight was a special treat. And I do
well remember the day in Ottawa when we were able to dedicate Joel
Shapiro’s wonderful sculpture. And I’ve seen the results of your work
and your contributions throughout the world.
And actually,
the work of FAPE became even more important after 9/11, and here’s what I
mean by that. Not only as a sign of our outreach and willingness to
engage the rest of the world, but because of security, so many of our
embassies began looking like bunkers, and that was the price we paid.
Beautiful buildings that had once housed our ambassadors and all of our
consulates and missions were now being replaced by very forbidding,
often unwelcoming buildings. We’ve gotten better over the last several
years in trying to combine our security needs with a more inviting
edifice. But were it not for the arts and the work that you have done,
it would have been difficult.
I recently visited our new
embassy in Beijing. It’s a masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece, and
made so in large measure because of the strategic location of the work
of the artists who are here and many others. And I want to extend my
congratulations to Justice Breyer. Justice Breyer and Joanna are such
great citizens of Washington. They have not stayed in the Ivory Tower of
the Supreme Court, but in fact have been involved in the life of this
city. And I really appreciate especially Justice Breyer’s commitment to
making our federal buildings more aesthetically pleasing, and you will
hear more about that in a minute.
There are so many wonderful
ways that FAPE has worked to expand America’s reach and to recognize
American arts and culture. And I hope that you really appreciate the
importance of the role that you’re playing. The State Department,
working in conjunction with President Obama and the White House and the
rest of our government, is reaching out around the world at a breakneck
pace to try to make it clear that we will protect America’s security
while advancing our interests and exemplifying our values.
And
we have a number of ambassadors here who have joined us, and we welcome
all of you as part of this celebration tonight. And I’m grateful beyond
words, Jo Carole, to you and everyone involved with FAPE for really
helping us exercise smart and artistic power around the world. Thank you
all very much. (Applause.)
