[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14791-14792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I wish to speak to a resolution honoring 
the National Council for International Visitors, NCIV, on the occasion 
of its 50th anniversary. The United States has the responsibility of 
protecting its citizens by ensuring peace, and I believe that citizen 
diplomacy as practiced by the NCIV is a crucial tool to achieving that 
end.
  With the goal of promoting ``excellence in civilian diplomacy,'' the 
NCIV promotes the idea that individual citizens have the right and 
responsibility

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to promote peaceful and cooperative foreign relations. NCIV champions 
the belief that ``citizen diplomacy has the power to shape American 
perceptions of foreign cultures and international perceptions of the 
United States, effectively shattering stereotypes, illuminating 
differences, underscoring common human values, and developing the web 
of human connections needed to achieve more peaceful relations between 
nations.''
  In a partnership with the Department of State, the NCIV cosponsors 
the International Visitor Leadership Program, IVLP, which brings 
distinguished foreign leaders to the United States for short-term 
professional programs. Since 1961, the NCIV has organized people-to-
people exchanges for more than 190,000 foreign leaders participating in 
the IVLP, and of these participants, 285 went on to lead their 
respective countries. The IVLP's distinguished alumni include Tony 
Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi, and Nicolas 
Sarkozy, among others.
  Throughout my tenure in the Senate, I have sought to engage leaders 
of friendly and adversarial nations alike, as I recognize the potential 
for dialogue to yield positive results where few prospects for progress 
were at first seen. Refusing to negotiate with adversarial countries 
exacerbates relations with these nations, and the resulting mutual lack 
of understanding strengthens anti-American sentiments.
  It is my personal experience that meeting with leaders whose policies 
are in conflict with those of the United States can yield positive 
results. I cite my interactions with former President Hafiz al-Asad of 
Syria, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, and President Hugo Chavez of 
Venezuela as examples. Achievements resulting in some small part from 
this personal diplomacy included expansion of emigration rights in 
Syria and cooperation with Cuba and Venezuela on counter-narcotics 
policy. By investing in diplomacy, the United States can foster 
international relationships that facilitate peaceful resolutions to 
conflict.
  The NCIV promotes these relationships on an individual basis, 
``[bridging] cultures and [building] mutually beneficial relationships 
through international exchanges.'' I nominated the NCIV network of 
citizen diplomats for the 2001 Nobel Prize believing they ``have done . 
. . the best work for fraternity between nations.'' On the occasion of 
the NCIV's 50th anniversary, I hope that my colleagues join me in 
honoring their work.

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