Transcript: Clinton's Opening Statement At Senate Hearing

I assure you that if I am confirmed, the State Department will be firing on all cylinders to provide forward-thinking, sustained diplomacy in every part of the world, applying pressure wherever it may be needed, but also looking for opportunities: exerting leverage; cooperating with our military and other agencies of government; partnering with non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and international organizations; using modern technologies for public outreach; empowering negotiators who can protect our interests while understanding those of our negotiating partners. Diplomacy is hard work, but when we work hard, diplomacy can work, not just to defuse tensions, but to achieve results that advance our security interests and values.

Secretary Gates, as the chairman said, has been particularly eloquent in articulating the importance of diplomacy. As he notes, it's not often that a secretary of defense makes the case for adding resources to the State Department and elevating the role of the diplomatic corps. Thankfully Secretary Gates is more concerned about having a unified, agile, and effective U.S. strategy than in spending precious time and energy on petty turf wars. As he has stated, "Our civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long." That is a statement that I can only heartily say amen to.

With both Russia and China we should work together on vital security and economic issues like terrorism, proliferation, climate change, and reforming financial markets.

The world is now, as Senator Dodd said, in the crosscurrents of the most severe global economic contraction since the Great Depression. The history of that crisis teaches us the consequences of diplomatic failures and uncoordinated reactions.

We have already seen this crisis extend beyond the housing and banking sectors, and our solutions will have to be as wide in scope as the causes themselves, taking into account the complexities of the global economy, the geopolitics, and the continued political and economic repercussions from the damage already done.

But here again, as we work to repair the damage we can find new ways of working together. For too long we've merely talked about the need to engage emerging powers in global economic governance. The time to take action is upon us.

The recent G-20 meeting that President Bush hosted was a first step. But developing patterns of sustained engagement will take hard work and careful negotiation. We know that emerging markets like China and India, Brazil and South Africa and Indonesia are feeling the effects of the current crisis. And we all stand to benefit, in both the short and long term, if they are part of the solution and become partners in maintaining global economic stability.