PROMOTING FREEDOM AND EXTENDING THE RULE OF LAW

Mr. Chairman, the representative of a foreign power said once that his country had no permanent allies, only permanent interests.

It might be said of America that we have no permanent enemies, only permanent principles.

Those principles are founded in respect for law, human dignity and freedom not just for some, but for all people.

If I am confirmed, I can assure you that the United States will not hesitate to address frankly the violation of internationally-recognized human rights, whether those violations occur in Cuba or Afghanistan; Burma, Belgrade or Beijing.

We will work with others to defeat the forces of international crime and to put those who traffic in drugs permanently out of business.

We will pursue a hard line against international terror, insisting on the principle that sponsoring, sheltering or subsidizing terrorists cannot be rationalized; it is wrong; and those guilty should not be appeased, but isolated and punished.

We will maintain our strong backing for the international war crimes tribunal for Rwanda and the Balkans, because we believe that the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing should be held accountable, and those who consider rape just another tactic of war should answer for their crimes.

And we will continue to promote and advocate democracy because we know that democracy is a parent to peace, and that the American constitution remains the most revolutionary and inspiring source of change in the world.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAINSTREAM

One final note, Mr. Chairman. Before closing I wanted to make it clear that I intend, if confirmed, to build upon Secretary Christopher's wise decision to incorporate environmental goals into the mainstream of our foreign policy.

Over the past several years, I have traveled to almost every region of the world. I have seen the congestion caused by over-development, and the deforestation that results when expanding populations compete for shrinking natural resources. I have smelled the air of smoke-clogged cities where the environmental techniques made possible by modern technology have not yet been applied.

The threats we face from environmental damage are not as spectacular as those of a terrorist's bomb or a hostile missile. But they directly affect the health, safety and quality of life of families everywhere. We can choose to be passive in responding to those threats, and leave the hard work to our children, or we can be active and forward-looking now. I choose the latter course, and will not be shy in seeking Congressional and public support.

CONCLUSION

Members of the Committee, I am deeply honored to appear here today. I have laid out some, but by no means all, of what I see as the principal challenges and opportunities we will face over the next 4 years. Clearly, we have a lot to do.

I could say to you that it had always been my ambition to be Secretary of State of the United States. But that is not true. Frankly, I did not think it was possible. I arrived in America when I was 11 years old. My family came here to escape Communism and to find freedom and we did. My ambition at that time was only to speak English well, please my parents, study hard, and grow up to be an American.

The newspaper in Denver, where we lived, had a motto that read, "Tis a privilege to live in Colorado."

My father used to repeat that motto on a regular basis, but he would often add a reminder: "Kids," he would say, "never forget that it is also a privilege to live in the United States."

Long after I left home, my mother would call on the Fourth of July to ask my children, her grandchildren: "Tell me, are you singing any patriotic songs?"

Senators, you on your side of the table and I on my side, have a unique opportunity to be partners in creating a new and enduring framework for American Leadership. One of my predecessors, Dean Acheson, wrote about being present at the creation of a new era. You and I have the challenge and the responsibility to help coauthor the newest chapter in our history.

In so doing, let us remember that there is not a page of American history of which we are proud that was written by a chronic complainer or prophet of despair. We are doers.

By rejecting the temptations of isolation, and by standing with those around the world who share our values, we will advance our own interests; honor our best traditions; and help to answer a prayer that has been offered over many years in a

multitude of tongues, in accordance with diverse customs, in response to a common yearning.

That prayer is the prayer for peace, freedom, food on the table and what President Clinton once so eloquently referred to as "the quiet miracle of a normal life."

If with your consent, I am confirmed as Secretary of State, I will ask you to join me in doing all we can, as representatives of the indispensable nation, and with the help of God, to answer that prayer.

Thank you very much.

BIOGRAPHY

Madeleine Korbel Albright was nominated as Secretary of State by President Clinton on December 5, 1996. Since January 1993, Ambassador Albright has served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. President Clinton elevated this position and made the Ambassador a member of his Cabinet and a member of the National Security Council.

Prior to her appointment as United Nations Permanent Representative, Ambassador Albright was the President of the Center for National Policy. The Center is a nonprofit research organization, formed in 1981, by representatives of government, industry, labor and education. Its mandate is to promote the study and discussion of domestic and international issues.

As a Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international affairs, U.S. foreign policy, Russian foreign policy and Central and Eastern European politics, and was responsible for developing and implementing programs designed to enhance women's professional opportunities in international affairs.

In 1981-82 Ambassador Albright was awarded a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian following an international competition in which she wrote about the role of the press in political changes in Poland in 1980-82.

She also served as a Senior Fellow in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducting research in developments and trends in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

From 1978-81 Ambassador Albright was a Staff Member on the National Security Council, as well as a White House Staff Member, where she was responsible for foreign policy legislation.

From 1976-78, she served as Chief Legislative Assistant to Senator Edmund S. Muskie.

Other professional experience includes Board Member of the National Endowment for Democracy, Board Member of the International Media Fund, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Presidential Candidate Michael S. Dukakis, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Mondale-Ferraro campaign, Vice-Chair of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Member of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council of the United States, Member of the Board of Trustees of Wellesley College, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Black Student Fund, Member of the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Urban League, Member of the Board of Directors of the Center for National Policy, Member of the Chapter of the Washington National Cathedral, Member of the Board of Trustees of Williams College, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Democratic Forum, Member of the Executive Committee of D.C. Citizens for Better Public Education, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Behavior School, Public Relations Staff of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Reporter on the Rolla Daily News, Rolla, Missouri.

Awarded a B.A. from Wellesley College with honors in Political Science, she studied at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, received a Certificate from the Russian Institute at Columbia University, and her Masters and Doctorate from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government.

Ambassador Albright is fluent in French and Czech, with good speaking and reading abilities in Russian and Polish.

Selected writings include Poland, the Role of the Press in Political Change (New York: Praeger with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 1983); The Role of the Press in Political Change: Czechoslovakia 1968 (Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University 1976); and The Soviet Diplomatic Service: Profile of an Elite (Master's Thesis, Columbia University 1968). Ambassador Albright has three daughters.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. [Pause-a disturbance in the audience occurred]

Would they pleased be escorted out. [Pause]

Well, that shows there really is freedom in this country.

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Mr. Chairman, at your convenience, I would be very happy to answer that question.

The CHAIRMAN. All right. But would you state the question so that the rest of us could understand it. [General laughter]

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. I guess the question is what has happened to the children of Iraq as a result of our sanctions regimes. I am as concerned about the children of Iraq as any person in this room. Who is not concerned about the children of Iraq is Saddam Hussein, who has used his people as a pawn in order to try to break what is a legitimate sanctions regime that was imposed on his country as a result of his aggression into Kuwait.

As often as I can in the Security Council, I have made very clear that the United States would, in fact, end the sanctions regime when Saddam Hussein lives up to his obligations. Because we were concerned about the children of Iraq, the United States coauthored a resolution, Resolution 986, allowing the sale of oil for humanitarian goods. That resolution is now in place and food will be going

in.

But I have to say something, that if Saddam Hussein does not live up to his part of the bargain on Resolution 986, it won't stay in effect. So the issue here is that Saddam Hussein is the one who has the fate of his country in his hands, and he is the one who is responsible for the starving children, not the United States of America.

The CHAIRMAN. Madam Ambassador-I am in the habit of calling you "Madam Ambassador," which you still are.

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. I am.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you discussed this matter with the President?

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. This matter?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you are speaking for him on this?

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Absolutely. This is the policy of the United States.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you had groups call on you about this matter? I have.

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Previously?

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. I have, sir, and I have encountered them at my various speeches. I fully believe that what the United States is doing is the most humane way of approaching this issue, and that is why we are the coauthors of the resolution that has, in fact, allowed for this exception to be created.

The CHAIRMAN. Fine. We may get back to that through the questions of Senators.

Let me say before we begin the questioning that I want to arrange the format for questioning by members in the fairest possible way.

Senator Biden and I have agreed that 7 minutes per Senator per round would probably be the best we could do. We will have as many rounds as are necessary to satisfy every Senator and every issue that should be raised.

Let me ask Senators please not to adopt the practice that sometimes appears, which is to spend 6 minutes making a speech and then asking a question, and the poor nominee is left with 1 minute to answer something about the law of relativity.

So please keep your questions very short because I am going to ask the timekeeper to ring the bell when the 7 minutes are up.

Now I notified Mr. Brownback just a little bit ago that I recalled the days when I was sitting there at the end of the table-somewhere near Alexandria-and I thought I would never get a chance to ask a question. So I am going to yield my time temporarily_to him, and then Senator Lugar will pick up. I will go last on the Republican side.

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, I hope Senator Wellstone does not think that is a precedent that we have set. [General laughter]

The CHAIRMAN. Well, as a matter of fact, Senator Wellstone asked me to bring it up. [General laughter]

Senator WELLSTONE. There is no hope on my part. I know it is not a precedent. [General laughter]

The CHAIRMAN. All right, then. Senator Brownback.

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is good to be sitting here with you in Alexandria.

Congratulations to you, Madam Albright, Ambassador Albright, for your nomination to this position. It is about time a woman be nominated for Secretary of State. I look forward to your questioning and your responses to those and for us to get to learn more about you and your thoughts and views on these various positions for the administration that you would carry forward.

Also, congratulations on your own personal trip on the American Dream. You have been on quite a great journey, it sounds like, and one that is still evolving and moving forward. It should be a great inspiration to a lot of people that come to America, who will look up to you.

I have a rather mundane first question that you will get. So I apologize for the mundaneness of it. In the last Congress, in the 104th Congress, we were very concerned, of course, about balancing the budget and about moving forward and providing this Nation to the children in a better fiscal shape that it currently is in. So there has been an aggressive effort to try to move forward on balancing the budget and doing the best we can with fewer resources available to the government.

Of course, you noted in your presentation the impact that has had in the foreign affairs area and in international relations, a committee on which I used to serve in the House.

One of the things we put forward that we thought would be a wise move, use of resources, and still have a strong foreign presence of the United States in countries around the world was to consolidate several of the foreign affairs agencies in the Federal Government within the State Department-the Chairman mentioned that briefly in his opening remarks-USIA, ACDA, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and AID, USAID to be consolidated

36-876 97-2

postcold war because many of them were cold war creation entities. We won the cold war, we are past the cold war. We could take the remnants of those that we believe to be the most viable and put them in the State Department to better rationalize and better efficiently deliver the United States foreign presence abroad.

I am curious what you would think of that proposal. It is one that I understand early on Secretary Christopher was supportive of and then, in the internal machinations, was persuaded otherwise.

A number of us believe that could be a very positive thing for the United States and to meet twin goals of moving toward balancing the budget and also strengthening our foreign presence. Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Thank you Brownback, and welcome to the committee. Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you.

very

much,

Senator

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. I am looking forward very much to working with you and I thank you very much for your kind words.

The issue that you raise is obviously one of great importance to all of us. And I, if I am confirmed as Secretary, want to make absolutely sure that the resources that we have for foreign affairs are managed effectively and efficiently.

I will work with you and the committee to make sure that for every tax dollar that we have we get a dollar's worth out of it, if not more than a dollar's worth, and that we will be looking at ways to try effectively to promote American foreign policy to match our interests.

I look forward very much to working with you and this committee on the subjects that you have discussed. I think it is something that we have to work together on and I will do that.

Senator BROWNBACK. So you are open to working together on these consolidations?

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. I am and I am open minded on the issue. Senator BROWNBACK. That is what we need to have.

Mr. Chairman, thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Biden.

Senator BIDEN. Mr. Chairman, if Senator Wellstone were here I would have yielded to him. But he is not. [General laughter]

In fairness, he came up and he said I assume we are not going to adopt such an open-minded rule. I assured him that we were not, and he left. But he will be back.

I have one question at this time, Ambassador Albright. To state the obvious, a great deal has happened since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. As I have mentioned, there has been a lot of discussion, in academia and in the press, in the State Department, in the foreign offices of other nations, about expansion of NATO and the upcoming meeting in Madrid.

My question is this. Would you be kind enough to outline the likely scope of, or at least the direction in which the administration wishes to move in pursuing, a proposed charter between NATO and the Russian Federation?

Ambassador ALBRIGHT. Senator, I think you have pointed out the massive change that has taken place since the end of the cold war. It has been mentioned by people that I had studied the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. I sometimes feel more like an archae