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In her confirmation testimony, Hillary Rodham Clinton said: "The best way to advance America's interests in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions. ...We must use what has been called "smart power," the full range of tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural -- picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy."
On arrival for her first day as Secretary of State, she addressed Department employees: "There are three legs to the stool of American foreign policy: defense, diplomacy, and development. And we are responsible for two of the three legs. And we will make clear, as we go forward, that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States. And I will do all that I can, working with you, to make it abundantly clear that robust diplomacy and effective development are the best long-term tools for securing America's future."
In Congressional testimony from February 2012, Secretary Clinton spoke of American leadership: "When I took this job, I saw a world that needed America, but also one that questioned our focus and our staying power. So we have worked together to put American leadership on a firm foundation for the decades ahead. We have ended one war and are winding down another. We have cemented our place as a Pacific power. We have also maintained our alliance across the Atlantic. We have elevated the role of economics within our diplomacy, and we have reached beyond governments to engage directly with people with a special focus on women and girls."
In remarks in Switzerland in December 2011, Secretary Clinton spoke about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "It proclaims a simple, powerful idea: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. And with the declaration, it was made clear that rights are not conferred by government; they are the birthright of all people. It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them."
Through this web page, the Bureau of Public Affairs releases all speeches, testimony, briefings, statements, and other remarks from the Secretary of State as soon as they are available. (Also see daily press briefings by the Department Spokesperson and other releases from the Office of Press Relations.)
