Clinton addresses policy forum
Posted: Friday, November 06, 2009 5:22 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Congress, State Dept.
From NBC's Ali Weinberg and Wendy Jones
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today addressed the first public policy forum of NoLimits.org, an education foundation focusing on issues like work-family policies, healthcare reform and human rights. The nonpartisan group was founded by Ann Lewis, whose brother is House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank.
Clinton said she recognized many friends in the audience, including her best friend from sixth grade, as well as many whom she met "in the cauldron of the 2008 election." She called Lewis Rep. Frank's "long-suffering sister," joking about Lewis's reaction to Frank's speech earlier at the forum: "He did great but his shirt was untucked!"
Although the speech was devoted mostly to Clinton's experience thus far as Secretary of State, she did comment on some of the day's news, expressing optimism about the House passing its health care bill tomorrow.
"For the first time in American history the House is poised to pass comprehensive health care reform," Clinton said. Alluding to her own struggles in passing health care legislation during President Bill Clinton's administration, Clinton added, "As someone who has fought this battle for so many years, I cannot tell you how proud I am."
She also remarked on the shootings at Fort Hood yesterday, which wounded 30 and left 13 dead. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers at Ft. Hood," she said. These terrible incidents remind us of the sacrifices of our men and women..it's horrifying when they come under fire..and [worse] when things like this happen to those wearing the uniform."
Addressing the mostly female audience, Clinton spoke of a recent trip to Congo, where she visited a hospital for rape victims. "It rips your heart," she said, noting that raping young women has become "a tactic of war" there. She stressed the importance of spreading awareness in America about humanitarian crises abroad, telling the audience that her job as Secretary of State is to "explain to the laid-off auto worker why it is important to help people abroad....to educate their children."
She also spoke about her trip to Berlin tomorrow to help commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the 30-year Cold War's end. "We find ourselves now in a much more complex world, she said, with conflicts far different than "when it was us versus them."
