[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 4 (Monday, January 27, 1997)]
[Page 86]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Confirmation of the Secretary of State and the 
Secretary of Defense

January 22, 1997

    I applaud the Senate for acting so swiftly on the nominations of 
Madeleine Albright and William Cohen. In confirming both Ambassador 
Albright as Secretary of State and Senator Cohen as Secretary of Defense 
by unanimous votes, the Senate has recognized the extraordinary 
capabilities of these two outstanding individuals.
    Equally important, the Senate has sent a strong signal to the world 
of its determination to work in a constructive and bipartisan spirit 
with the administration on our Nation's foreign policy and national 
defense. I welcome that resolve. Nothing is more important for 
maintaining America's leadership in the world than preserving the 
bipartisan consensus on national security policy that was so vital to 
our success in World War II and the cold war. I look forward to a 
continuation of that spirit of bipartisan cooperation as the Senate 
takes up the nominations of Congressman Bill Richardson to be Ambassador 
to the United Nations and Anthony Lake to be Director of Central 
Intelligence.