[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO WENDY SHERMAN

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Wendy 
Sherman, a fellow native Marylander and a distinguished daughter of 
Baltimore--and a true friend of mine--as she retires tomorrow from her 
position as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of State.
  As Deputy Secretary of State since the start of the Biden 
administration, Ms. Sherman has been entrusted with handling some of 
the most intractable diplomatic engagements our country has to manage. 
It is no wonder that one of her senior colleagues in the administration 
told the New York Times recently that she is the one most often 
deployed to have ``hard conversations in hard places.'' This included a 
vital meeting with her Russian counterpart in Geneva in January of 2022 
where she delivered the U.S. Government's final warnings to the Kremlin 
about the high costs they would incur should they invade Ukraine.
  Wendy's early career was built around assisting women who had been 
abused and people in poverty, helping them to succeed despite 
underprivileged circumstances. The circle of people benefiting from her 
sharp intelligence and good heart widened quickly over the years. 
Advancing from her early career as a social worker, she became the 
executive director of EMILY's List, an important organization for the 
advancement of women in American politics, to the director of 
Maryland's office of child welfare, and later to become the founding 
president of the Fannie Mae Foundation.
  Along the way, Ms. Sherman also worked closely with our former 
colleague Senator Barbara Mikulski as her chief of staff during her 
time in the House of Representatives, and so she worked on many 
legislative issues and constituent services that were important for the 
people of Maryland.
  Ms. Sherman later served during the Clinton administration as an 
Assistant Secretary and then counselor at the U.S. Department of State 
and then as special adviser to President Bill Clinton and Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright as North Korea policy coordinator. She was 
instrumental in negotiations related to North Korea's nuclear weapon 
and ballistic missile programs. Wendy directly contributed to our 
country's national security, as she secured a deal in which North Korea 
agreed not to produce, test, or deploy missiles with a range of more 
than 300 miles, preventing North Korea from fielding missiles that 
could strike the United States.
  Working closely with Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John 
Kerry, Wendy returned to the Department during the Obama administration 
and continued her work to further our international goals as Under 
Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the fourth-ranking official 
in the U.S. Department of State, and the first women to rise to that 
rank.
  As the lead negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal, Wendy led six 
arduous negotiating rounds between Iran and six world powers to reach 
consensus on Tehran's nuclear program. As leader of a special task 
force following 2012 Benghazi attack, Wendy leveraged her experience to 
help implement recommendations to improve protections for Foreign 
Service personnel, bolstering the safety and security of our diplomats 
serving our countries overseas. For these and many other diplomatic 
accomplishments requiring toughness, fortitude, and diplomatic savvy, 
she was awarded the National Security Medal by President Barack Obama.
  Out of government, Wendy continued to work closely with Madeline 
Albright as vice president and senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge 
Group, before returning to the national security sector again in her 
present capacity.
  Wendy has further leveraged her diplomatic experience to the benefit 
of academia and the nonprofit world, serving as professor of the 
practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public 
Leadership at the Harvard's Kennedy School. She was also a senior 
fellow at the School's Belfer Center for Science and International 
Affairs. She has served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, 
as chair of the Board of Directors of Oxfam America, and on the DOD's 
Defense Policy Board and the Congressional Commission on the Prevention 
of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism. Through 
these diverse roles, Wendy has helped to not only shape the next 
generation of diplomats and foreign affairs professionals, but the 
future of diplomacy.
  This month, Wendy Sherman retires as one of the most accomplished 
diplomats in American history. Wendy will be missed by me and by her 
wide circle of professional colleagues and admirers. I have no doubt 
that she will continue to impart her wisdom and experience even as she 
returns to the private sector.
  Wendy Sherman is the embodiment of a fine public servant and a true 
stateswoman, by turns persuasive and toughminded as the situation calls 
for, inspiring future generations to follow in her footsteps. I wish 
her all the best for her future endeavors.

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