[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 29, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I want to speak about the extraordinary 
public service that has been rendered by the Secretary of State and 
whose long record of public service I want to commend. I rise on behalf 
of my friend, our former colleague, our honorable Secretary of State, 
Hillary Clinton.
  She has represented the United States. She is a world figure. She has 
represented America to the world, especially with her diligence, her 
grace, her hard work, and her incredible diplomatic skills. She has 
traveled to 112 countries. She has racked up 1 million miles, met with 
thousands of foreign dignitaries. She has reached nearly every corner 
of the globe and made history on the way.
  In each assignment she has left an indelible mark empowering women, 
supporting sustainable development, supporting the establishment of 
civil societies, and promoting the tenets of democracy: one man, one 
vote; one woman, one vote; human rights; and the rule of law.
  I might also note that she particularly has underscored the plight of 
women. Of course, we know we see societies that live almost in another 
time and age centuries before in the way they treat women. The 
Secretary of State has tried to help modernize those societies. She has 
done so by empowering and appointing one of her personal friends, 
Melanne Verveer, to be the Global Ambassador for Women's Affairs. That 
position has taken Ambassador Verveer all over the globe.
  I might say it has been my privilege to have a glimpse of that by 
seeing my wife Grace Nelson work with Melanne on the plight of poor 
women in so many different countries across this planet.
  When our Secretary of State confronts major national security 
challenges, her support has been pivotal--from the support she gave the 
President in the raid that took out bin Laden, to the drawdown of U.S. 
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has been at the forefront of some 
of the toughest decisions of our time.
  The Secretary has also been steadfast in persuading the international 
community to enact crippling sanctions on Iran to isolate and to punish 
the regime for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. I might say on a 
personal note, a Floridian has been missing for almost 6 years who was 
suddenly swept up and disappeared on the Iranian tourist island of Kish 
in the Persian Gulf. The Secretary has kept very vigilant in continuing 
to search for any piece of evidence of Bob Levinson and to ultimately 
bring him home. I thank the Secretary not only for Floridians such as 
myself, but for his wife, Christine Levinson, and seven children who 
want their father home. That quest continues unrelentingly by many 
people. I wanted to say thank you to Secretary Clinton for the efforts 
she has lent to this effort.
  She has been one of the driving forces behind NATO's no-fly zone over 
Libya in order to prevent Qadhafi from massacring his own people. 
Through deft diplomacy, she has slowly opened Burma to the outside 
world. She is encouraging them to free political prisoners, hold 
parliamentary elections, and finally permit foreign investment. It is 
happening before our eyes.
  Of course, she has taken special interest in the poorest nation in 
the Western Hemisphere, an island nation right off of the east coast of 
the United States, also less than an hour-and-a-half flight from Miami; 
that is, the island of Haiti.
  The island nation of Haiti--which is the island that Christopher 
Columbus was expected to have landed on, Hispaniola--now encompasses 
Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She has made Haiti one of the top 
foreign policy priorities, helping the impoverished island build back 
better after the devastating earthquake that killed over one-quarter of 
a million people. In no small measure has her husband President Clinton 
been a part of that attempt at restoration of Haiti from that 
devastating earthquake.
  Last week, during Secretary Clinton's final appearance before the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she said:

       Every time that blue and white airplane carrying the words 
     ``United States of America'' touches down in some far-off 
     capital, I feel again the honor it is to represent the 
     world's indispensable nation.

  Madam Secretary, you have truly honored us with your indispensable 
leadership. On behalf of all our Senate colleagues, we thank you for 
your extraordinary service to this country. I want to say that your 
position will be in capable hands with our colleague and your former 
colleague, Senator John Kerry, who will serve, as we confirm him in the 
next 24 hours, as the 68th Secretary of State.
  Senator Kerry has served in this Senate in a distinguished amount of 
public service since 1985. He grew up traveling the world with his 
father in the Foreign Service. He fought in Vietnam and was awarded the 
Bronze and Silver Stars, along with three Purple Hearts. I know he is 
going to build upon and continue the legacy and the extraordinary 
record of Secretary Clinton and will enhance America's leadership in 
the world. I look forward to his speedy confirmation.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

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