January 26, 2005 Statement of Senator Clinton for the Congressional Record on Her Vote on the Nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice for Secretary of State Mr. President, the vote on whether to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State is a difficult decision. The Administration and Defense Department's Iraq policy has been, by any reasonable measure, riddled with errors, misstatements and misjudgments. From the beginning of the Iraqi war, we were inadequately prepared for the aftermath of the invasion with too few troops and an inadequate plan to stabilize Iraq. Today, we are reaping the consequences of those decisions with continuing tragic losses of American and Iraqi lives, a full-fledged insurgency in Iraq and a lack of security and stability in many areas. In fact, the National Intelligence Council, the CIA's own think tank, recently stated that Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as the prime international terrorist haven -- a deeply disturbing result of our problematic policies. In her role as National Security Advisor, Dr. Rice was a member of the team responsible for our flawed Iraq policy. She made several misleading statements about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the lead up to the war. And in the almost two years since the Iraq invasion, the flawed policies on Iraq have not been corrected. Indeed, Dr. Rice has tremendous difficulty in even admitting error though obvious errors abound. In addition, $18 billion has been appropriated for the reconstruction of Iraq, but only a tiny percentage of that money has actually been spent because of the violence in Iraq. Although I profoundly disagree and deeply regret how this war has been conducted, my concern has less to do with Dr. Rice and more to do with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld. The fact is that the President was reelected, and, though I was strongly opposed to his reelection, he was reelected nonetheless. I do not believe, however, that accountability ends with an election. We are all public servants, including the President and his team, and we are all therefore accountable to the public for our achievements and mistakes on a continual basis. We are also accountable to the future and to history. So while I, and many of my colleagues, have strong concerns about her role in the development of a flawed Iraq policy, an overwhelming majority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including a large majority of Committee Democrats, voted in favor of forwarding her nomination to the full Senate. While many of my Democratic colleagues on the Committee, including the Ranking member, share my concern over her role in our Iraq policy, they think it worthwhile to give her a chance in this new role. That judgment, from Senators who had the opportunity to probe and question Dr. Rice on her qualifications, tips the balance in favor of voting for Dr. Rice's nomination to be Secretary of State, in my mind. I am hopeful that Dr. Rice's background and training will enable her to serve as Secretary of State with distinction and that she will carry the lessons of our policy failures in Iraq with her as she leads the Department of State. She does have the President's ear and I hope she will use her role to direct the President's attention to addressing our frayed alliances in Europe, our relationships with Latin America, our policy toward Russia, nuclear proliferation around the world, especially in Iran and North Korea, personal sustained attention to new opportunities for lasting security and peace in the Middle East, problems and opportunities posed by China, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and to lead the world's efforts to address the global crises of AIDS and other diseases, environmental degradation, poverty, education and health care in the developing world, and human rights. As National Security Advisor, Dr. Rice's role was to advise the President. The Secretary of State has a different role as the nation's chief diplomat. Dr. Rice's proposed appointments to senior positions within the State Department are well-qualified experienced personnel. I'm hopeful that Dr. Rice's statements during the recent hearings in support of reaching out to allies, public diplomacy and building coalitions will be more than words, but instead describe a genuine effort to ensure that our country leads the world though its strong alliances, values and example.