NOMINATION OF SECRETARY OF STATE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1997

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m. in room SD-216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Jesse Helms (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senators Helms, Lugar, Coverdell, Hagel, Smith, Thomas, Ashcroft, Grams, Frist, Brownback, Biden, Sarbanes, Dodd, Kerry, Robb, Feingold, Feinstein, and Wellstone.

Also Present: Senator Mikulski.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

Let me say that we are privileged to have the Secretary of State Warren Christopher here this morning, a distinguished gentlemen whom all of us admire and respect. As well, we have the President's nominee to be Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

Before proceeding with the hearing as such I have conferred with Senator Biden and in the interest of the Secretary's time, let us offer Secretary Christopher the floor for the purpose of introducing his good friend and ours, the next Secretary of State. Secretary Christopher, good morning.

STATEMENT OF HON. WARREN CHRISTOPHER, U.S.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Secretary CHRISTOPHER. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members. Thank you so much.

This is, of course, the final time I will appear before this distinguished committee as Secretary of State. I have been honored very much to serve the American people and to work with this committee in forging a record in which I think we can all take a good deal of satisfaction.

Although we have not always agreed, we have always had mutual respect, and that has never wavered. For your counsel and our Nation's diplomacy in this new and difficult era of international relations, I thank you all very, very much.

Today I have the very distinct privilege and high honor of introducing President Clinton's nominee as the next Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

As far as we can tell from looking at the history books, this is the first time an outgoing Secretary of State has ever had the honor of introducing his nominated successor to this committee. For that particular privilege, I am very grateful to you, Madeleine, for asking me.

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Madeleine has been so gracious through this transition period. I am also grateful to the committee for permitting me to do this rather unusual thing.

Ambassador Albright has been my close friend and valued colleague for a quarter of a century. Her extraordinary qualities make her, in my judgment, a magnificent choice to be Secretary of State. All who know Ambassador Albright admire her keen intellect, her moral strengths, and her powerful sense of history born of personal experience. Millions, of course, have been touched by her plain spoken eloquence. She is the master of the one-liner. The one for which I have particular affection is her contention that at times Warren Christopher seems almost life-like. [General laughter]

I am confident that Ambassador Albright will be a great Secretary of State, one who will make history as she advances our Nation's interests and upholds our ideals around the world.

Indeed, of course, Madeleine has already made history by being what I predict will be the first of many outstanding women to be chosen for this high office.

Ambassador Albright's entire life has prepared her to be our chief diplomat. Her family twice took refuge from totalitarianism, first from Hitler and later from Stalin. Her childhood taught her that freedom can never be taken for granted and that American leadership is always critical to the defense of liberty.

Throughout her career, she has applied those lessons to the benefit of the United States and of the world as a whole.

Her experience in academia and in government has also been superb preparation for the role for which the President has nominated her. Her self discipline and her energy allowed her to complete her doctorate in political science at Columbia University while at the same time working as the chief legislative assistant to Senator Edmund Muskie, not to mention raising three beautiful daughters at the same time, all of whom I am very glad to say are here today.

Madeleine then brought this excellent background to the Carter Administration, where she served as a liaison to Congress from the National Security Council.

During the decade of the eighties, Ambassador Albright maintained her trail blazing path. She undertook policy work and policy research, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She became a professor of European and Soviet studies at Georgetown University in the prestigious School of Foreign Service, where she won, I am told and I know, many Teacher of the Year awards.

In that position, Madeleine had an opportunity to encourage hundreds of women to work in international affairs, and she has many devoted students all around this country. She helped to found the National Democratic Institute and she served as President of the Center for National Policy which, under her leadership, became increasingly influential.

I had the good fortune to work with Madeleine all through this period, so I know first hand and very well of these great achievements.

When President Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright in 1993 to serve as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N., her expe

riences and skills came together with really extraordinary effectiveness. At the U.N., she followed many distinguished ambassadors. But I think it is accurate to say that none has been more successful than Madeleine has been.

As Secretary, I have been blessed to work with a tremendously outstanding national security team, especially including Ambassador Albright. Because of the personal trust that we have in each other, she and I were able to create a close partnership which may well have been unique in the relationship in recent history.

Time and again, Ambassador Albright has delivered results at the U.N. on the most critical issues facing our country, often when others predicted, sometimes myself, that it just could not be done. She helped to maintain tight sanctions on Iraq, thereby deterring further aggression by Saddam Hussein. She challenged the role of dictators by organizing support for the restoration of democracy in Haiti and speaking out for freedom in Burma, Nigeria, Serbia, and many other countries around the world.

She led the successful effort in the U.N. Security Council to deplore Cuba's shooting down of unarmed American planes. She championed a more effective U.N. by pushing for leaner budgets, more accountable operations, and the selection of a new Secretary General committed to accelerating reforms.

She, of course, has been a voice of conscience on stopping the war in Bosnia and also a very vigorous leader in establishing the International War Crimes Tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity in Bosnia and in Rwanda as well.

Mr. Chairman, I leave the post of Secretary of State with great confidence that the new Secretary will serve President Clinton and the American people with great distinction in the years ahead.

I will be very much honored if this committee approves her, and I have some confidence you will, to succeed me and to have my post filled by my friend and colleague, Madeleine Albright.

If I may borrow her own metaphor, I am sure that her heels will more than adequately fill my well worn shoes. [General laughter] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Members, for the courtesy of permitting me to go first this morning.

And Madeleine, thank you so much. [Applause]

The CHAIRMAN. I was going to do the unnecessary before Secretary Christopher left, which is to tell him that we have enjoyed our relationship with him. I think I speak unanimously for this committee. He is a gracious gentlemen and I have enjoyed working with him.

Now for a little bit of housework here. You know what the meteorologists are saying about tomorrow, that there is likely to be great difficulty in getting around in Washington-that is, if they are correct, and sometimes they are. So Senator Biden and I-and I trust the others on the committee will agree-have decided to continue this hearing until we are through questioning Ambassador Albright. Written questions can be submitted. The moment that each of the written questions has been responded to by the distinguished Secretary-designate, we will schedule a business session to act on her nomination.

Now I think all Senators know that both parties have policy luncheons and that it is important that all of us be at our respec

tive luncheons. We will suspend at about 5 minutes to 12:00 and will come back shortly after 2:00. The Democrats luncheon starts at 12:00 and ours begins at 12:30.

Senator BIDEN. But we have more to mull over, Mr. Chairman. [General laughter]

The CHAIRMAN. Oh, I don't know. You ought to hear our side of it. [General laughter]

Madam Ambassador, it has been a joy to work with you while you were at the United Nations. A lot of Americans enjoyed your remarks to Boutros Boutros-Ghali. You are by no means a stranger to this committee or to the American people.

I welcome you as the President's nominee to serve as our country's 63rd Secretary of State.

Now I made a hasty count the other night, Senator Lugar, and I believe I am in the ballpark when I say that 62 men, including Secretary Christopher, have served as U.S. Secretary of State since the beginning of the Republic. Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Buchanan of that group later went on to the Presidency.

That may portend something for you to look at.

William Jennings Bryan, interestingly enough, was among the 62, and I am bound to admit that I was a little bit intrigued when I looked down at the list of the names and I saw that one of the early secretaries was named "Philander." I wondered if he was stationed at any time in Paris. But that is a question we should look at historically somewhere else.

All of those 62, whatever the exact figure is, and I think I am correct, Madam Ambassador, have been men. History will accord that the President has nominated you to be, of course, the first woman to serve as Secretary of State.

Now the committee is going to spend a good bit of time, as you would expect, in evaluating your qualifications to become the 63rd U.S. Secretary of State. We have that duty and, of course, we will handle it as expeditiously as possible. We have the responsibility of probing everything that has been suggested to us, and I know full well by experience that you will respond yourself and not turn it over to some assistant to respond to the questions in writing.

You are a distinguished American by choice with many significant achievements. Three are sitting right behind you this morning, your daughters-Katie, Alice, and Anne. I hope that they will not mind standing so that the committee can welcome them as well.

Aren't they pretty good achievements, these ladies? [Applause] When the President announced your nomination last month, I must confess that I hoped then, as I still do, that Mr. Clinton's second administration would be somewhat more cooperative in dealing with Congress on foreign policy matters. I hasten to add that that is a two way street that all of us should travel. When there is not a two way street, an impasse results, and we do not want that any

more.

In this connection, it is encouraging that, as the President's nominee for Secretary of State, you, Mrs. Albright, are a lady who understands Congress because you have worked among us. You understand that the role of Congress is very important in this tri

partite government of ours put together by our Founding Fathers. In formulating policy in this government, I am confident that your experience in the executive and legislative branches will serve you well.

Many Americans, I among them, hope that the area of foreign policy in the next 4 years will not produce a sequel to the travail of the first 4 years. After 12 years of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, the United States had once again become the undisputed leader of the world, certainly of the Free World. Our friends followed us and the enemies of freedom, thanks to those presidents, feared and respected the strength of the United States. But many of those gains have been neutralized by a foreign policy too often vacillating and insecure, a foreign policy that has responded to world events rather than shaped them. It is quite revealing when this administration, as often it has, boasts that the invasion of Haiti was identified as a great foreign policy achievement.

Now I must be candid about this: sending American soldiers into harm's way to a tiny Caribbean island with no vital national interest at stake, sending them to replace one group of thugs with another, does not seem to this Senator to be much of an accomplishment.

In any event, the Haiti excursion at last count has cost the American taxpayers in excess of $2 billion.

Just a few months ago, when Saddam Hussein was again testing the resolve of America, the CIA Director acknowledged in testimony before Congress that Saddam Hussein's gamble had paid off for him. He is now politically stronger in northern Iraq than before. The list goes on, but I will not get more involved in that.

But I will say this, that history teaches us one unmistakably clear lesson. The security of the American people is always less certain when our adversaries doubt our resolve-and our adversaries very much doubt our resolve at this moment.

So, Madam Ambassador, that is why in your new post a great many Americans are praying for you. They are praying that you will help change that and that you will engage us in a cooperative venture to regain U.S. leadership abroad.

While it goes without saying that the leadership of any administration must come from the top, it is my hope that, as the President's most senior foreign policy official, you will devote your strength and courage to bringing coherence, direction, and fresh ideas to America's foreign policy.

Now all Senators on this committee oppose the undermining of America's ability to protect its interests overseas. That is a given. We all agree on that. But as a new century approaches, all of us working together must find ways to protect U.S. interests overseas in a more efficient manner, by discarding outdated and failed programs and agencies having little relevance in today's world.

We must demand and achieve serious and lasting reform at the United Nations. You and I discussed that yesterday in my office. We also discussed a lot of other issues which I think I should approach in my time as questions. But working together, I am confident that the next 4 years can be very beneficial to this country and the American people.