[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S377-S378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF CONDOLEEZZA RICE

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise according to the order to speak 
as in morning business, but I will be addressing my remarks to the 
nomination of Dr. Rice to be Secretary of State.
  First, in supporting Dr. Rice's nomination, I wish to set this in 
context. President Bush was reelected last November. He took the oath 
of office last Thursday and swore to protect and defend the 
Constitution of the United States. The Constitution and the laws give 
him the authority to nominate people who he wants to take leadership 
positions in his administration.
  We, now, have our constitutional responsibility in the Senate of the 
United States to advise and consent. But I have always believed that 
our responsibility to advise and consent does not mean we have to agree 
with every opinion or every action the nominee has ever taken, but that 
nominee deserves the benefit of the doubt and our responsibility is to 
determine whether the nominee is fit for the position for which the 
President has nominated him or her, and whether the nominee, in our 
judgment, will serve in the national interest. Of course, I conclude 
that Dr. Condoleezza Rice met that standard at least and much more.

  Second, this element of the context in which this nomination is put 
before us. We are at war. It is a war unlike any we have ever fought 
before. Here I speak of the world war with Islamic terrorism. It is 
joined on battlefields in places like Iraq, of course, but it is being 
fought in the shadows and corners against an enemy that is driven by 
fanaticism and acts without regard to human life--others or their own.
  I embrace the best tradition of American foreign policy that says and 
always has said that partisanship should end at the Nation's shores. 
Note this: It doesn't say policy differences should end; it doesn't say 
ideological differences should end; it says partisanship should end at 
the Nation's shores, particularly so when our Nation is engaged in war, 
a global war on terrorism, a war in Iraq in which Americans have lost 
their lives in the cause of freedom and in protection of our security.
  What I wish to say here is that the nomination of Secretary of State 
in a second term of a President naturally is an opportunity, 
appropriately, for people to raise questions about the foreign policy 
of that administration. But in the final analysis, I hope it is also an 
opportunity around this very qualified nominee for us to come together 
and say to one another and to the world, both our enemy and our allies, 
that in the final analysis Americans will stand shoulder to shoulder 
against terrorism, against the enemy in pursuit of the freedom and 
liberty and opportunity that Dr. Rice spoke about in her opening 
statement before the Foreign Relations Committee and that President 
Bush spoke about in his inaugural address last week.
  One of the great strengths which Condoleezza Rice will bring to the 
office of Secretary of State is that the world knows she has the 
President's trust and confidence. I respect the right of any of my 
colleagues, of course, to reach a different decision today and to 
oppose this nomination, but I hope and believe that the Senate today 
across partisan lines will resoundingly endorse this nomination and 
send the message to friend and foe alike that while we have our 
disagreements, ultimately what unites us around this very qualified 
nominee in this hour of war is much greater than that which divides us. 
In times like these, it is important that the world not only know that 
this Secretary of State has the ear of the President, but that she has, 
if you will allow me to put it this way, America's heart--a heart that 
beats with the freedom and security and opportunity that we dream of 
for our own people and for the people of the world.
  In the world today, we face a time of grave peril but also great 
promise. It is in many ways, it seems to me, like the time our 
predecessors faced after the Second World War at the outbreak of the 
Cold War. As then, now it is a hostile ideology which threatens freedom 
around the world as terrorism has replaced communism as liberty's 
foremost foe. Now, as then, it is the United States that must show 
leadership and resolve as the world's strongest nation in the face of 
this danger from terrorism to life and liberty--not just ourselves but 
everyone who does not exactly agree with the terrorists. Now, as then, 
the President and Members of Congress must depend on the advice and 
counsel of the Secretary of State as we craft the policies with 
an unblinking resolve that will rally our friends and rattle our 
enemies, that will diminish--we pray, eliminate--the perils we face and 
realize the extraordinary promises of our time.

  The very first Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, once wrote:

       We confide in our strength without boasting of it. We 
     respect that of others without fearing it.

  Jefferson's 18th century insights will serve us well in the face of 
the 21st century threats we confront. I know Dr. Rice understands and 
appreciates that well.
  Economic development and trade and foreign direction investment and 
the spread of modern technology and telecommunications have raised the 
standard of living throughout the world and connected people of the 
world as never before. But too many nations and people have been left 
behind because of failed governments or failed economies. They have 
become breeding

[[Page S378]]

grounds for terrorists who threaten us all.
  Today, there is hope. Members of democracy are beginning to glow 
where that powerful light has existed little or none before. The 
Afghans and the Palestinians have recently held successful elections. 
This Sunday, Iraq will hold a historic democratic election. I know the 
circumstances are difficult there, but having been there myself just a 
few weeks ago I can speak with some confidence that the turnout will be 
large and the affirmation of the Iraqi people for a better and freer 
future will be clear.
  Whether these embers grow into beacons for the rest of the Arab world 
or fade into dark and cold will depend uniquely upon strong, skillful 
American leadership and diplomacy. I conclude that Dr. Condoleezza Rice 
is capable of such leadership.
  Nuclear proliferation threatens the world as Iran and North Korea and 
others strive to develop deadly weapons which will make the arms race 
of the Cold War look sane in comparison. In response to these dangers, 
President Bush in his inaugural address and Dr. Rice in her testimony 
before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week have set down 
some basic principles which will guide our foreign and defense policy. 
They are based on values and hopes that have defined America: freedom, 
opportunity, faith, and community.
  Let me read a paragraph of Dr. Rice's opening statement before the 
Foreign Relations Committee last Tuesday:

       In these momentous times, American diplomacy has three 
     great tasks.
       First, we will unite the community of democracies in 
     building an international system that is based on our shared 
     values and the rule of law.
       Second, we will strengthen the community of democracies to 
     fight the threats to our common security and alleviate the 
     hopelessness that feeds terror.
       Third, we will spread freedom and democracy throughout the 
     globe. That is the mission that the President has set for 
     America in the world--and a great mission of American 
     diplomacy today.

  Let me read a few words from President Bush's inaugural last 
Thursday:

       We are led by events and common sense to one conclusion. 
     The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on 
     the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for 
     peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the 
     world. This is not primarily the task of arms, though we 
     will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms 
     when necessary. Freedom by its nature must be chosen and 
     defended by citizens and sustained by the rule of law and 
     the protection of minorities. Democratic reformers facing 
     oppression, prison or exile can know America sees you for 
     who you are--future leaders of your free country. The 
     rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe, 
     as Abraham Lincoln did, that those who deny freedom to 
     others deserve it not for themselves, and under the rule 
     of a just God cannot long retain it.

  These principles and policies are neither Republican nor Democratic; 
they are American. In fact, the words spoken by President Bush last 
Thursday could just as easily have been spoken by some of the great 
Democratic Presidents such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry 
Truman, and John F. Kennedy. In fact, similar words were spoken by each 
of those Democratic Presidents at times of crisis--times of crisis 
similar in many ways to our own.
  I hope, therefore, that we will now come together to implement those 
principles and policies in a way that will spread hope and security and 
build bridges throughout the world, that the President will reach out 
to Members of both parties in Congress, and we in turn will reach out 
halfway at least and meet him to implement these stirring, uniquely 
American goals and policies and principles with real programs that are 
effective public diplomacy and outreach of economic development of 
trade, of rule of law, of ultimately, most importantly, the spread of 
freedom and democracy. I conclude that Dr. Condoleezza Rice is uniquely 
prepared by ability and experience to lead this effort as Secretary of 
State.
  I want to say a final word about Dr. Rice herself, whom I have come 
to know over the years.
  President Bush has clearly nominated Dr. Rice to be Secretary of 
State because he values her experience, he knows her skill, and he 
trusts her counsel. No one believes this President chose this nominee 
for Secretary of State for reasons of gender or race. No one here will 
vote for her in this Senate for reasons of gender or race. But the fact 
is that Dr. Condoleezza Rice is an African-American woman. I believe, 
in addition to every other standard by which we judge and respond to 
this nomination, we should celebrate the fact that when she is 
confirmed, another barrier will be broken in American life. We should 
celebrate this fact because Dr. Rice's life speaks to the promise of 
America, and in very personal terms says to people throughout the world 
what America is about and what we hope for them.

  Let us speak directly. Dr. Rice, born in 1954 in the then racially 
segregated South, knew the sting of bigotry. No one on the day of her 
birth could have rationally predicted she would grow up to be the 
Secretary of State of the United States of America. But she was blessed 
with great natural abilities, with a strong family, with an abiding 
faith in God. She worked hard, as others worked in her time, to break 
the barriers of segregation to establish the rule of law to create 
opportunities. She has earned the nomination the President has given 
her.
  Just as no one in Birmingham, when this African-American girl was 
born in 1954, could have dreamed she would grow up to be Secretary of 
State of the most powerful country in the world, there are babies being 
born today in Baghdad and Ramallah and Kabul and Riyadh and in 
countries and cities throughout the world where no one could dream they 
might grow up to be President of their nation or Prime Minister or 
Foreign Minister or president of a high-tech enterprise or a professor 
at a great university. They will if we, working with the people of 
their countries, will it.
  A great man once said if you will it, it is no dream. In this hour 
when our security is being threatened, the promise of opportunity can, 
in response to the source of those threats, become real for tens of 
millions of children being born and growing up in places today where 
there is no freedom and no hope. That is the great mission our country 
has today. Dr. Rice understands that. Her life, as I said, speaks to 
brave men and women of color who, like Dr. Rice, have worked to change 
our Nation. Now she can, and I believe will, help lead our Nation to 
change the world, and in doing so enhance our values and protect our 
security for our children and grandchildren, as well.
  I urge my colleagues to support the nomination of Dr. Condoleezza 
Rice to be Secretary of State.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii is recognized.
  Mr. AKAKA. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Akaka pertaining to the introduction of S. 147 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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