FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Final Town Hall Meeting With Department of State Personnel
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Dean Acheson Auditorium
Washington, DC
January 30, 2013
Thank you. Thank you. Oh, boy. This is an incredible experience for me. I thank you for joining me and I know that other rooms are filled to capacity and there is a big crowd that is outside in the hallway and hello to everyone watching on BNET or online.
I have to begin by saying I’m here with a full heart. These last four years have been a remarkable honor and experience for me, and that is thanks to all of you, to the professionals, men and women who get up every day and work for the State Department and USAID on behalf of our common mission and values and the country that we love. Every day during my tenure over the last four years, whether I was in Washington or in some remote corner of the world, I have been so proud of your dedication, your professionalism, your ingenuity, your integrity. And you have big jobs to do here and you do them superbly. So I am proud to have been a colleague, to leave here as a very grateful member of the team.
I walked into the door of the State Department more than four years ago now determined to elevate diplomacy and development as pillars of our foreign policy alongside defense, because I was convinced they were critical for solving problems and seizing opportunities worldwide. And I will walk out the door this Friday even more convinced of that because of the work that we have done together during some challenging and even tumultuous times.
We have faced all manners of events, from democratic revolutions in North Africa, to earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, to the end of the war in Iraq, the beginning of the transition in Afghanistan, the rebuilding of the global economy, breakthroughs in places like Burma and Somalia, the signing of a New START Treaty, and on and on. Diplomacy and development have been vital to these and so many other efforts that we have undertaken together.
And as I’ve looked back over the past four years, I think, through it all, we have remained focused on our long term goals: advancing American interests, defending universal values, protecting our security, helping more people in more places live up to their God-given potential. And along the way we’ve lost friends and loved ones. Some, like Richard Holbrooke and Chris Stevens, were giants of American diplomacy. Others were men and women, many far too young, with long futures ahead of them, so much promise and passion. All of them were patriots, and we honor their memories by carrying forward this important work.
Our current efforts to improve security and implement the recommendations of the recent Accountability Review Board are part of a broader push to strengthen both State and USAID. I’m also very proud to have overseen the first QDDR, which identifies ways in which our agencies could become more effective, more innovative for the future. Many of the QDDR recommendations are already in place, such as our increased focus on economic statecraft and energy, the steps we’ve taken on global security and justice issues, new strategies to address climate change, and everything we’ve done to integrate women and girls into our policies.
And just a few days ago, we appointed a sanctions coordinator to focus on governments like Iran and Syria and North Korea. Now, these steps are smart, sensible, and suited to today’s world. I believe they’ve already made State and USAID stronger. The same goes for the investments we’ve made in training and mentoring our workforce. The new job opportunities we’ve created, the improvements we’ve made in recruitment, all the other steps we’ve taken to ensure we are finding the most talented people out there for the Foreign Service and the Civil Service and giving them, giving you, the professional support you need to thrive.
Now, many other steps outlined in the QDDR are in the process of being implemented, and now we need to make sure that the QDDR itself continues, because I’ve always said that the Q is the most important letter in that recitation. Last year, we came close to having Congress pass legislation that would mandate future reviews, just as the Defense Department has done for many years. In fact, John Kerry himself introduced that legislation, so I’m confident that he will carry on this work. Congress would be wise to pass the QDDR because it does make State and USAID stronger, and thereby making our nation stronger.
Four years ago when I sat across the table up in the Senate from my then-Senate colleagues at my own confirmation hearing, I said I was thrilled to be considered for the role of Secretary, but also sad about leaving a place that I had loved also and all the people that I cared for so much there and in New York, the state that I was so privileged to represent. Now I find myself feeling the exact same way. I am looking forward to the next chapter. It’s like one of those books you buy that has blank pages.
And I know I’m leaving the Department in excellent hands. John Kerry was a very accomplished senator, and he will be the same as Secretary of State. He brings judgment, experience, vision, and a deep understanding, because of his own family with his father having been in the Foreign Service, to what diplomacy requires.
But I am very sad to leave all of you and to leave behind the institution here where I have been so proud to serve on behalf of the American people. It will be very hard over the next few days to say goodbye to the terrific men and women at State and USAID because I will truly miss you. I will miss the incredible sense of commitment that you bring to the work we do, the exacting standards you hold yourselves and others to, the fun that we’ve occasionally had in traveling and working together. But I will mostly be very proud and grateful that I had the chance to be the 67th Secretary of State. I will look forward to doing my part from the outside to try to stand up for and explain why this is such important work and to always feel that I am in some way connected to you and to that work’s continuity.
