Remarks at the Senior Executive Association Annual Banquet for Distinguished Rank Award Recipients
Secretary of State
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all. Thank you so much. And welcome to the Ben Franklin Room here on the eighth floor of the State Department. We are delighted to be hosting you tonight and to be take this opportunity to recognize the dedication that each of you has shown to public service over your impressive careers.
I must say that being Public Service Recognition Week, as it currently is, it is a special honor for me to take part in this dinner and to have a chance to both greet you and congratulate you. And I want to thank everyone who made this event possible. Of course, John Berry. Thank you, Carol. Thank you. And what a treat to be introduced by Shelby all these years later. (Laughter.) I have to say he’s very handsome, even now, don’t you think? (Laughter.) I don’t want to embarrass him, but we did know each other all those years ago. (Laughter.) Although sometimes when you’re talking about the late ‘60s, it is hard to remember what – (laughter) – happened and what didn’t happen. But I am delighted to see you honored, as you are this evening.
And I want to recognize another friend, someone whom I had the privilege of serving with in the Senate for eight years. Senator George Voinovich of Ohio has worked tirelessly on federal workforce issues. He’s championed diversity practices. He worked to increase retention rates among federal employees. He’s really changed the way that we think about employee performance and workforce planning. He’s here this evening with his wife. Both Senator and Mrs. Voinovich have given many years of their lives to public service, and I want publicly to thank both of them. (Applause.)
I have long admired the dedication of the people whose names rarely, if ever, make it into any headlines, but who are the backbone, the nervous system, the intelligence of our government year after year. And I wish every federal government employee could be recognized and thanked for his or her efforts. But tonight we have the special opportunity to thank those of you who have made exceptional contributions. Yesterday, I had the chance to recognize and thank those who are from the Foreign Service and the Civil Service here in the Department. Since the establishment of the Senior Executive Service, the President has honored the outstanding performances of its members with the Civil Service’s highest honor, the title of Distinguished Executive. And only one percent of senior executives can receive the award. It’s truly an elite distinction. And each and every one of you has merited it because of what you have brought to your time in the federal government.
The career executive corps is the long-term memory, it’s the wise counsel, it’s the driver of change and innovation in the federal government. As I know very well, political appointees come and go. (Laughter.) I remember showing up at the White House; you know, it was a pretty big deal showing up at the White House in 1993. And Bill and I were met by one of the butlers, who said, “You know, presidents come and go but butlers stay.” (Laughter.)
Well, certainly that is true, and thankfully so for our senior executive staff, which provides the continuity, the in-depth expertise, the insight to keep our government, and therefore our country, running smoothly. And I thank you for making a career in public service and in serving not just your government but your country.
Now here in the State Department, we talk a lot about smart power. And smart power obviously requires smart people. And that’s where all of you come in. It’s about harnessing the full range of our tools in order to address the world’s challenges, to seize the opportunities ahead of us. It means tapping the skills and the talents. And that’s really the hallmark of the Senior Executive corps. And every one of you did something to advance the cause of our government: being an effective change agent, a problem solver. You have dealt with some of our most difficult national priorities. You’ve created solutions. And all the while, you have served our country with quiet distinction.
There are so many of you who have made a contribution, and there a couple who have been brought to my attention, who have really struck a chord with me. I think from my time on the Armed Services Committee, now here in the State Department, of all of our military men and women deployed in high-profile conflict areas around the world. And Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Pasquale Tamburrino guided the production of our most complex undersea weapons systems – the Seawolf and Virginia class submarines – at a cost reduction of 25 percent, $250 million per hull. Thank you. (Applause.)
And it’s fitting that, in a year when we finally have approved a historic health care reform bill, Anna Snyder – who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight, I was told – of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in HHS, has implemented a system that reduced the rate of improper Medicare payments to save our country $12 billion a year.
And when what we affectionately call in the State Department “Snowmageddon” shut down the federal government a week this last February, the economic cost of that lost productivity was national news, as John well knows. But in 2006, when Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus had the Department of Justice back up and running at full speed just 40 days after major flooding disrupted building operations, while other buildings – some of them – took a full year, there were no headlines with his name. He just did the job that needed to get done, without fanfare but with great skill and resolve.
Those are just a few examples at each of your departments – Treasury, VA, Defense, all the others – your work to improve operating procedures and reduce wasteful spending has collectively saved the United States $49 billion. So thank you for making taxpayer dollars go further, which is especially important in these tight budget times, and for coming up with the solutions for problems that other people don’t even recognize, and being really ahead of the curve.
Every day, we know we see headlines about things involving the federal government. But it’s rare that we honor and recognize the individuals who actually put the policy into action, who make our government run. I think George would agree with me that when you’re in political life as a member of Congress, you can come up with all kinds of good ideas, you get the legislation passed, and then you just have to assume somebody else is actually going to implement it. And those somebody elses are all of you and your colleagues across our government.
So I hope tonight’s honor in this beautiful setting on this absolutely glorious spring day – and I don’t know, did you get to go out on the terrace? Yes. Fabulous view. I hope that you see this as at least a small token of this Administration’s thanks for your hard work. President Obama and I not only recognize your outstanding achievements, but all the ways that you inspire your colleagues as mentors and leaders. And we thank you for your leadership and your commitment. It is perhaps a small measure to give you the award and to have this dinner, but it comes with a great depth of understanding on my part of what it takes to be sitting where you all are tonight.
Thank you all so much. (Applause.)
You can turn off the … um … “smart power” Madame Secretary, he’s already on your side. 🙄
Bill did say she’ll probably have three husbands after him…
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LOL! Yes, she had the high beams on for sure. I’m telling you, she just can’t help it!
What was this?
“Although sometimes when you’re talking about the late ‘60s, it is hard to remember what – (laughter) – happened and what didn’t happen.” – Did she inhale?
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In the sixties or that evening?
If she did, strangely, I’m sort of glad. She’s always seemed just a bit too prim and proper and Donna Reed-esque to me.
Personally, I think she forgot one of the main rules of any sort of public appearance – microphones before martinis. She’s a little too giggly and a little too rosy-cheeked for me to think the party wasn’t well underway by this point. I’m just waiting for a shot of Joe Biden with a lampshade on his head.
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In the SIXTIES, of course! The IDEA! LOLOL!!!! (Full disclosure: So did yours truly, then! Not now – not SINCE the sixties.)
These State Department videos are edited for her remarks very often, and leave out the intros. I WISH I could have heard what Shelby said! It really got her … um … started!
edited to add: Rosy-cheeked is right! But I love to see her glow!
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I just watched it again. She was only a little giddy at the beginning. I still wonder what Shelby said and what that history was. Maybe she was never as prim as you think!
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Two words regarding Shelby – Unfinished. Business. I hope they worked that out and I hope we aren’t reading about it on TMZ.com either. 😉 At least this time they might remember what happened.
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He probably didn’t make it to 2nd base. But inquiring minds want to know! LOL! Ivy League + Seven Sisters= a HOTBED of government intrigue lo’ so many years later!
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A hot bed, indeed. Who’d have ever thought the words State Department and sexual tension would ever fit together so nicely. Three cheers for diplomatic affairs!
Perhaps it was nothing more than flirtatious joking and she really is as hopelessly devoted to her husband as she sometimes appears to be… or maybe not. That’s no doubt a State Secret, but she certainly made it look very likely and even encouraged.
“He probably didn’t make it to 2nd base.”
Oh? Remember, “I have to say he’s very handsome, even now, don’t you think?… we did know each other all those years ago… I am delighted to see you honored, as you are this evening.” Yes, quite delighted, obviously.
Meanwhile in Chappaqua, Bill’s now trying to figure out how to earn one of those Distinguished Rank Awards since he sees what the banquet may bring.
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ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s a number!!!!! Number ONE!!!
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It’s interesting. She can flirt and joke and whatever with all these dignitaries, and diplomats, and this guy named Shelby, but if she were this flirtatious in public and the object of her affections was her husband (he’s so handsome, ect, ect), it would be international news. It’s weird and sort of sad.
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That IS weird! I remember reading somewhere by someone who was in the same restaurant once that they touched each other more in that evening than the GW Bushes did in 8 years. She doesn’t SAY that much about Bill, but when they are out socializing, we do see the hand-holding, hugging, leaning up into his chest.
She’s hot stuff!
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