[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 19 (Monday, February 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1450-S1451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE POLITICIZATION OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to bring to the Senate's 
attention a speech given by Ambassador Thomas Pickering in which he 
addressed some important issues concerning the Foreign Service.
  I had the privilege of hearing this speech during an event at the 
Smithsonian last year, and I know of no one better qualified to talk 
about the Foreign Service than Ambassador Pickering. In over 41 years 
in the Foreign Service, Thomas Pickering served as ambassador to a 
dizzying number of important countries and international organizations, 
including Russia, India, Israel, Nigeria, and the United Nations. He 
also happens to speak 5 foreign languages.
  In his speech, Ambassador Pickering warns of the increasing 
politicization of the Foreign Service. He points out that after 
disastrous experiences in the Civil War and Spanish-American War, the 
United States military professionalized its officer corps. Today, with 
the rise of international terrorism and the proliferation of other 
complex international problems, we should be thinking along the same 
lines.
  However, we seem to be going in the wrong direction. Increasingly, 
individuals who have done little more than donate to a political 
campaign are being placed into key positions within the State 
Department. Ambassador Pickering appropriately points out that certain 
political appointees have and will continue to play an important role 
in pursuing U.S. diplomatic efforts overseas. Bringing individuals like 
Howard Baker and Felix Rohatyn, who possess unique skills, to the State 
Department is essential.
  But the world is becoming more interconnected and more dangerous. 
International crises no longer confine themselves to remote corners of 
the world. For example, the outbreak of a deadly disease in Africa is 
only a plane ride away from the United States. We need seasoned, 
talented individuals capable of effectively advancing U.S. interests in 
key positions in Washington and abroad--not individuals whose primary 
talent is digging into their pockets to donate to a political campaign.
  I urge all Senators to heed Ambassador Pickering's address and ask 
unanimous consent that the entire speech be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

 National Portrait Gallery's Paul Peck Presidential Award--Acceptance 
                Speech by Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering

       Thank you very much for the kind introduction. I am 
     grateful to Strobe Talbott for his very kind remarks. Thank 
     you too for this extremely generous and most unexpected 
     award. I want to extend my warmest congratulations to Diana 
     Walker, my co-recipient tonight, for her great contribution 
     to portraying the presidency. I look forward to doing more 
     television shows together.
       I am even more grateful for this award, given my 
     distinguished predecessors in receiving it, one of whom, 
     General Brent Scowcroft, is here tonight, and the high 
     respect I have for the members of the selection committee.
       Let me also thank Mr. Peck for his unstinting generosity to 
     the Portrait Gallery, the Presidency and to the pursuit of 
     educational opportunities for disadvantaged Americans, 
     including African Americans and Hispanics and many others. 
     Your willingness to support so generously such worthy and 
     deserving causes is more than admirable. Were I not a 
     recipient of the award tonight, I would say with equal vigor 
     ``thank you for doing this for your country and its future.'' 
     I want too to thank all the cooperating foundations and 
     organizations that made the award and the evening possible.
       I would be remiss in my own understanding of reality were I 
     not to say immediately that it has been my family who have 
     been my strongest supporters throughout my career in 
     government. I'm happy to have with me tonight my son Timothy 
     and members of his family, my daughter Margaret and members 
     of her family and most especially my wife Alice. To all of 
     them, but most especially to Alice, my firmest friend and 
     toughest critic through many fascinating assignments, I owe 
     the most, and they too should be receiving the award with me 
     in every sense of the word--they surely deserve it.
       I have had the honor of serving every president since Harry 
     Truman, when I worked as a clerk in the U.S. Post Office and 
     for the U.S. Weather Bureau as a summer intern in the Arctic. 
     Since leaving the Foreign Service at the end of 2000, I have 
     also served on a number of official advisory committees to 
     U.S. departments and agencies.
       My Foreign Service career was highly rewarding and in some 
     respects, very unusual. I've had the pleasure of serving on 
     all continents except Australia. But then too, I went to 
     university there under the Fulbright program. I also spent 
     three and one-half years in the U.S. Navy and over 41\1/2\ in 
     the Foreign Service.
       I wallowed in diversity, both ethnic and religious. I had 
     the pleasure of being Ambassador to the world's only Jewish 
     state (Israel); to a Muslim country (Jordan); to the world's 
     largest Hindu state where Buddhism was born and where 150 
     million are Muslims, which makes it the world's second-
     largest Muslim state (India); to the largest Orthodox 
     Christian country in the world (Russia); to a predominantly 
     Roman Catholic republic (El Salvador); and to two countries, 
     while still both Christian and Muslim, contain very large 
     populations which practice traditional African religions 
     (Nigeria and Tanzania). It's been a wonderful career, even 
     though my mother often wondered why I kept moving around and 
     couldn't keep a steady job.

[[Page S1451]]

       Paul Peck is truly right. Public service, and we all serve 
     the President in that regard, is essential for our country's 
     survival and prosperity.
       Last year, Mr. Peck encouraged us all to think about change 
     and improvements--about ways to make our service to the 
     Presidency and through the Presidency to all of the people 
     more effective and more valuable.
       Tonight, I want to talk about two aspects of that service 
     and provide you some thoughts on improvement.
       I do so in the certain knowledge that the Civil Service, 
     the military service and the Foreign Service of the United 
     States have made numerous sacrifices and provided enormous 
     opportunities for us all as citizens. We are lucky that for 
     the size of our population, we have one of the smallest 
     public services in numbers, both at the Federal and State 
     level, when we compare it with other countries around the 
     world.
       Also, I see it as one which is generally dedicated, 
     intelligent and hard-working. Indeed, our public found out 
     how essential was our public service when just a few years 
     ago in a budget battle, there were selective shutdowns of 
     activities of the Federal Service and the public uproar was 
     immediate, vigorous and sustained.
       However, I must tell you I am troubled by the fact that in 
     our presidential elections there has been an increasing 
     tendency for presidential candidates to run against our 
     public service. It's not just the talk of ``clean up the mess 
     in Washington'', but that plays a role in it. There have been 
     implications that the public service hasn't been faithful or 
     it has been lazy and self-indulgent, or that it has not met 
     the needs of the people. And the candidate of course will not 
     only throw out the rascals from the opposing party, but go 
     down to Washington and clean up ``that mess'' for once and 
     for all.
       This has hurt the reputation of our career public servants 
     and I am concerned that in another oncoming electoral season, 
     we will see much of the same rhetoric repeated. I hope I am 
     wrong. I will keep my fingers crossed. But on the very off-
     chance that any candidates are listening tonight, I ask them 
     to consider this issue carefully.
       Secondly, I am concerned by the increasing, what I can only 
     call, politicization of our Civil and Foreign Service.
       We all know that over the years, Congressional legislation 
     has sought to draw a clear bright line between public service 
     and the elected political leadership. Indeed, that is as it 
     should be.
       As a public servant, I have understood the necessity for 
     loyalty to the President and his policies. That too is as it 
     should be. Our system has always provided a remedy if there 
     was conflict or confusion--resignation.
       But let me mention that during recent administrations, in 
     the department that I know best, the Department of State, 
     there has been a general replacement in jobs, some well down 
     in the bureaucracy, of career appointments with political 
     appointments.
       Let me also note that the plumb book which lists these jobs 
     has grown several fold over the last two decades, yet again 
     another indication of the pressure of politics on the public 
     service.
       And then, let me mention something that I perhaps know even 
     more about--Ambassadors.
       As an Ambassador who served coming from the Career Service, 
     I appreciate what my colleagues from outside the Career 
     Service have often brought to the job. There have been, and 
     continue to be, outstanding appointments to those jobs. Stu 
     Eizenstat and Howard Baker, and might I add Nancy Kassebaum 
     Baker in Japan, and Felix Rohatyn in France are but a few 
     fine examples, and there are many others--Max Kampelman and 
     Sol Linowitz among others.
       What disturbs me is the large number of such appointments 
     for whom one cannot say they bring special knowledge, 
     background, experience or wisdom to the job. We must be frank 
     that they are there because they are being rewarded in the 
     main for their financial contributions to the winning 
     political party. At a time of war on terrorism that should 
     not be the standard for such service!
       The spoils system went out in the 1880s, but this remnant 
     is not one that speaks well of our Presidency or indeed of 
     our needs at a time when we are the undoubted leader of the 
     world community in such a war.
       One wag has remarked that the first job that was truly 
     professionalized by popular acclaim was brain surgery. And 
     after disastrous experiences in the Civil and Spanish-
     American war, we professionalized our Military Officer Corps.
       Right now, by tradition more than anything else, about 70% 
     of our Ambassadors are from the Career Service and 30% from 
     the outside. Not too long ago, a distinguished American 
     senator, who has gone on to serve at a high post in the 
     Executive Branch, led the fight for reducing that number to 
     10%. He was unsuccessful, but I don't believe the project 
     should be abandoned.
       Where knowledge, experience and good training can make a 
     difference, America deserves the best. The Career Service is 
     organized to do that, and I would hope that this important 
     improvement, in what I believe is the spirit of Paul Peck's 
     Award, can be picked up and implemented in the future, 
     despite my full understanding of all the difficulties in 
     doing so. And I say that in full knowledge of the fact that 
     the Career Service needs to send its best men and women to 
     this assignment.
       For me and for all of my colleagues in the Foreign Service 
     and with all of those with whom I worked in the Civil and 
     Military Service, it was and is always a privilege to serve 
     this country.
       Every day was a day of new challenges and new 
     opportunities. I used to tell my staff that the day in which 
     you did not learn something new and important in the service 
     of our country as a day wasted.
       You all, as Americans, gave us that opportunity. If I was 
     able to give something back to you in return, then it was for 
     me both a great pleasure and the highest honor.
       Thank you most sincerely for your recognition tonight. 
     Because you recognize public service as well as individuals 
     at this occasion, I am pleased as well to tell you that my 
     acceptance of this honor must be on behalf of all of those 
     who have so loyally and faithfully served our country down 
     through the generations.
       Thank you very much.

                          ____________________