February 14, 2011
Williams Ekanem
U.S Secretary of States, Hillary Clinton has
responded to the intensive clamor by the Republican Congressmen for cut in
spending in the 2011 budget say such proposed substantial cuts will be
detrimental to America’s national security.
In her remarks after
meeting with House Speaker John Boehner, the Secretary of State told Congressional Reporters that “
the scope of the proposed House cuts is massive. The truth is that cuts of that
level will be detrimental to America’s national security.”
According to Clinton, “we need to ensure that 2011
and the process surrounding it doesn’t pull the rug out from under the civilian
experts that are working in every corner of the world to pursue America’s
security and interests.”
Commenting on the outcome of her meeting with the Speaker,
the Secretary of State said “I think the Speaker – because he has traveled to
many of these places over the course of his career in Congress and has kept up
to date by consulting with our military leadership – knows that we have to
support our government’s efforts in our frontline states, and those efforts are
both military and civilian.”
On what to expect from the consideration of the
budget on the floor of the House, the Secretary of State said that she remains hopeful that when
members consider the national security and economic consequences of these cuts,
they will chart a different course.
“ It is somewhat frustrating when what USAID and the
State Department are doing in these frontline states is not classified as
security. And there is a different category for security discretionary funding
than what is called non-security discretionary funding. And of course, you talk
to any member of a PRT in Iraq or moving in with the Marines in Kandahar, and
they clearly are part of our national security efforts in those countries.”
Looking into the immediate future she expressed
optimism that both parties will reach a bipartisan consensus and move forward
together, adding that “ we worked closely with the last Congress to protect our
security and advance our values and interests, and I’m confident we can work with
this one as well.”
On the situation in Egypt, Clinton stated that the
administration is inspired to see the
Egyptian people lay claim to their own future.
According to her, “It’s also clear that Egyptians have a great deal of work
to do in order to get the full promise and potential of their efforts realized
as they look toward a future that will give each Egyptian the right to fulfill
his or her God-given potential. And we look forward to working with the
Congress in the coming days to ensure that we have the funding and the
authorities necessary to support the Egyptian people.
Events in Egypt show how important it is that we have a global diplomatic
presence, a presence that will be ready to handle crises, prevent conflicts,
protect American citizens overseas, and protect American economic and strategic
interests.”
No comments:
Post a Comment